


Cracked eggs, dead birds (my brain is bleeding out)

by Oceanbreeze7



Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Brother Feels, Dai-nana-han | Team 7 (Naruto) Feels, Gen, Good Uchiha Itachi, Grief/Mourning, Hurt/Comfort, Protective Hatake Kakashi, Protective Uchiha Itachi, Team Bonding, Team as Family, Uchiha Itachi-centric, Uchiha Massacre, Uchiha Sasuke-centric
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-19
Updated: 2019-06-19
Packaged: 2020-05-15 00:25:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 19,055
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19284307
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Oceanbreeze7/pseuds/Oceanbreeze7
Summary: A curse mark, according to Itachi Uchiha, counts asfailure to protect Sasuke Uchiha.You could build yourself as a  liar, construct of throne of half-truths and misinformation, but your heart itself could not be hidden.You could split yourself open and become something you aren’t. You could commit sins and become a monster willingly, but never truly kill yourself.Itachi Uchiha would always love his brother.OrSakura accidentally tells the crows that Sasuke needs help when Gaara loses control during the Chunin Exams.It's been a long time since Itachi has been home to pay his respects.(Sasuke hates, that after the bodies were gathered, he never could build a pyre.)





	Cracked eggs, dead birds (my brain is bleeding out)

**Author's Note:**

> Here's a chaotic mess that's been in the making for quite some time.  
> Enjoy, because I don't know what I'm doing.

Crows were never a sign to be adored. They were strange birds, intelligent and wary. Filling the skies and darkening the sun under layers of silky feathers. They coated tree branches, clinging to shadows until all green was obscured behind hundreds of watching eyes.

Sasuke hated crows, he hated the way they watched far too attentively. They clung to the edge of roofs, little talons scrabbling on carved stone and wooden shingles. They cawed and sang their throaty song  _ cr-aw, cr-aw, cr-aw _ and waited for Naruto’s hazardous movements to spill food across the dirt. The crows would descend, feasting on tasty morsels that remained after they had left.

Sasuke could imagine, that the crows were waiting for one of them to mess up.

He used to like the crows, they were a warm company that when he was young he thrived in. He remembered sitting out back, kneeling on the soft grass sprinkling seeds from his palm onto the ground torn up from sparring. Shisui had brought them, a big heavy bag that he kept out behind the house- Itachi would grab handfuls and sprinkle seeds for the crows that swarmed them.

_ “Maybe you’ll summon them too.”  _ Shisui had told him, keeping his hand still to not jostle the crow on his hand.  _ “They’re such intelligent creatures.” _

Itachi hadn’t said anything, but he had that soft smile that Sasuke spent years trying to draw out. The small expression he worked tirelessly to pull out, training endlessly to show his brother how much he improved.

Itachi never said much about his crows, but he did gently stroke their glossy feathers.

Once he loved the crows, the reminders of his family and friends when they were too busy to be close. Now, the beady eyes and dark wings made him want to scream and throw knives until they dropped limply on the forest floor.

_ “If you’re in danger,”  _ Itachi told him one evening, sitting under the tree as the sun began to set. Shisui was gone, and the crows watched them from the clotheslines and overhanging tree branches.  _ “Tell them.” _

_ “Tell the crows?”  _  Sasuke remembered repeating, he remembered not understanding how birds could somehow let his brother know.  _ “But they don’t talk!” _

Itachi hadn’t smiled, but there was a light in his eyes as he gently flicked Sasuke’s forehead.  _ “Tell the birds, Sasuke, and I’ll always know.” _

* * *

 

“You shouldn’t feed them.” Sasuke clicked his tongue, crossing his arms and glaring. Sakura glanced up first, blinking with wide eyes in surprise. The crow on the ground squawked, looking a bit impatient for the rice ball in her hand.

“Eh!” Naruto roared, looking a bit ticked at the condescending tone. “Why not! It’s just a bird!”

The crow between them hopped a little, curling its small claws in the dirt annoyed.

Sasuke eyed the bird, a bit on the small side. Its beak was thick and hooked, feathers a bit loose like it was close to molting. Growing then, a young bird.

“You should listen to him.” Kakashi mentioned, barely glancing up from where he had his face obscured by his book. “You never know what can come out of feeding wild animals. Sometimes they’ll follow you home.”

Naruto scowled, the skin on his face wrinkled. “You’re the one that lives with a dozen dogs!”

Kakashi didn’t even blink. “That bird just stole your rice ball.”

* * *

Sasuke ran up the tree, channeling chakra until he  _ burned.  _ He wasn’t sticking as long as he should, losing his grip to gravity to plummet downwards once again.

The air stank of sweetly smelling sap, thick and sticky on the soles of his shoes. Already dirt was sticking- he’d have to clean his sandals thoroughly before helping the bridge builder.

Naruto was shrieking to his side, screaming about something. His own tree had mirroring marks, deep gashes that trailed skywards along the bark. 

Sasuke could feel his muscles trembling, the burn of muscles aching and stretching with every kick. His palms were sweaty around the handle of his kunai, his fingers twitching in his exhaustion.

Sasuke looked up, exhaling through his nose quietly as he peered into the branches of the tree he was to climb.

A crow was nestled there, nearly hidden in the shadows of the leaves. 

It didn’t stop watching him once.

* * *

Is it sad, that when his eyes tinted red and everything became so  _ clear,  _ he always looked to see if the birds were watching him?

* * *

When Sasuke was young, he always tried  _ so hard  _ to impress his brother. He hated the expectation pressed on him, the heavy burden that he wasn’t  _ good enough. _

Sasuke spent time out in the forest, throwing kunai at trees over and over because he needed to be  _ better. _

He loved his brother, he loved Itachi  _ so much,  _ but Sasuke couldn’t even his a target in the same spot four times in a row and his brother was in ANBU. 

So Sasuke practiced over and over, screeching and whimpering with the strain. 

He knew that he was overdoing himself a bit. He knew that the stress of school was going to catch up to him, like how his lungs burned from breathing so heavily for so long.

He didn’t remember much of those late night training, but he did remember all the times Itachi found him. The soft fond sigh, the gentle scarred fingers that brushed away Sasuke’s long bangs. Once Itachi’s fingers were soft, but jutsu and knives had turned his hands leathery and thick. They always remained gentle, tracing across the thin hairline cuts Sasuke accidentally inflicted on his cheeks.

“You need to be more careful.” Itachi scolded softly, aware of how exhausted his younger brother was. “You’re going to hurt yourself.”

Sasuke made a noise, a low wordless keen. Itachi smiled, his fingers a tad more pressure to gently lift his brothers head into a more comfortable position.

“Nng.” Sasuke groaned; Itachi was helpless to stop the fond bloom that welled in his chest. 

“Come on,” Itachi soothed, helping his brother to loop his arms over his shoulder, hitching him higher along his waist. “I’ll help you.”

* * *

The sharingan was...it  _ hurt.  _ It hurt so badly to use- the drain was thicker and nearly tangible. A sapping of his strength like blood from a wound. The first time he tried to use it, to activate it forcibly, he dropped limply and woke hours later.

“You’re pushing yourself too hard.” Kakashi clicked his tongue, not looking impressed or worried. Sasuke glared, jaw tensed and teeth grinding into each other. If he opened his mouth, he was afraid he’d bite his tongue from the pain.

“If you keep going like that,” Kakashi sighed exasperatedly, having the audacity to presume he knew  _ everything  _ about the sharingan, “you’re going to knock yourself out.”

Part of Sasuke hated it, that his clan’s legacy was being taught by an  _ outsider.  _ That it was  _ Kakashi  _ being forced to teach him how to use the Sharingan- a one eyed outsider who had the nerve to read a book during training.

Sasuke would bet that Itachi’s teachers never had this level of disrespect. Sasuke would wager that Itachi never needed training for his sharingan.

_ ‘Shut up’  _ Sasuke viciously thought to himself,  _ ‘he isn’t here right now.’ _

It didn’t help. No matter how much he hated his brother- how he wanted to see his corpse on the ground, he couldn’t forget the fact that Itachi was the one that promised to teach him how to use the Sharingan.

“Tch.” Kakashi sighed dramatically. “You’re going to get nowhere training like that.”

_ “Don’t worry,” Itachi tugged on Sasuke’s shoulder gently. “You’ll get your sharingan in time. I’ll show you how to use it, I’ll make sure you don’t hurt yourself.” _

Sasuke’s jaw twitched, his teeth groaned from the strain, and blood trailed down like tears due to overuse.

“Sasuke, you’re going to hurt yourself.” Kakashi warned, glancing at the blood boredly.

_ ‘I already am.’  _ Sasuke kept himself from saying.

* * *

Sasuke sometimes wondered if he should have just...embraced the crows. They were everywhere already, living in the vacant empty houses of the Uchiha complexes. The bag of birdseed Shisui once brought had been torn into by hungry creatures. Spilled everywhere, the cracked remnants of shells scattered over the ground.

The crows were living in the village, they were scavengers after all. Sometimes song birds frequented, but the big croaking birds took shelter in the torn awnings and the broken windows.

The crows were scavengers, feasting on anything presented at the time. Sasuke knew this well, he had old memories that sometimes felt like dreams to him. Flashes of childhood, so young he couldn’t place them. Itachi’s adoring gaze, bubbling childhood laughter. Time before his brother was swept away in the stress and scuttle of war and blood. Sasuke didn’t think much of it, but he knew his first memories were being cradled in his brothers arms.

He remembered Itachi, beaming with blood coated on his face, eating a dead lizard brought to him by the carrion birds. Eating nuts and berries, tokens of appreciation from birds that ate anything permitted.

Sasuke wondered, if Itachi ever fed him those little strips of stolen meat. If his brother took the birds offerings and fed them to Sasuke. A crow, caring for its nest with stolen flesh stripped from dead animals.

Sasuke wondered, how many of his relatives lived on in the stomachs of crows after his family was murdered.

* * *

Training for the Chunin exams was something different, not to mention the second trial was...was  _ horrible. _

Sasuke had been through a lot- the needles from Haku, the training of his Sharingan. The agony of failing and falling and the pressure and weight of a legacy on his shoulders.

His neck hurt, it hurt so badly. More than any wound, it pained him deep into his soul. 

The mark wasn’t good, it brought a sense of strength far more superior than anything he had ever felt. If Sasuke was a weaker man, he would have succumbed to it instantly. He wasn’t a weaker man though, he knew that all good things come with a price.

_ “You need to feed them, Sasuke.” Itachi scolded him softly, open palm under the water. The large koi, decorative and shiny flapped their big mouths over again. Nibbling on Itachi’s fingers, hungrily sucking to find the cubed pieces of mellon. _

_ “You try,” Itachi offered, plucking and depositing a small square in Sasuke’s palm, helping him reach down. The hungry fish descended quickly, tickling with their whiskers and greedy mouth. They were beautiful, bred for generations to be glossy and black. _

_ “To gain their trust, you must feed them.” Itachi coaxed more fish over, feeding them one by one with the sweet mellon. “All things that offer you gifts, must be fed.” _

_ “Fed with what?” Sasuke asked, nearly giggling from the fishy kisses. _

_ Itachi’s smile hadn’t reached his eyes. “Something of equal value.” _

* * *

__

_ “Tell the crows if you need my help. I’ll always come.” _

Sasuke shut his eyes, breathing through the pain. The power coursed through his limbs, agonizing and bright. A thousand screams of birds as electricity crackled.

“Hm.” Kakashi sighed lazily, “looks like you’ve got a decent grip on it.”

Channeling chakra, changing its form and components into pure uncontrollable power. Chidori, screaming like birds but not the birds that Sasuke knew. These were different, higher in pitch. He expected something low and hoarse, croaking in the mornings.

“Now, you only have two blasts,” Kakashi warned, knowing as well as Sasuke, that he wouldn’t heed the warnings. He’d use it more, and he’d activate the curse mark.

He hated the mark, he hated the tainted power it brought. He hated that he needed it to ever kill Itachi.

_ ‘Something of equal value,’  _ Sasuke thought to himself. Perhaps, it was time to prepare for the worst.

* * *

“Sakura.” Sasuke spoke, speaking in one of his quieter moments. Maybe it was his tone, the flat sincerity of it that took her by surprise.

Her eyes widened, her posture shifted. She inhaled sharply, and quieted.

“If…” Sasuke trailed off, unsure how to broach the subject. He hated this, he  _ hated  _ it-.

He needed his own power, he needed to be stronger, and here he was, relying on a  _ murderers- _

_ ‘Oh, how ironic.’  _ Sasukle thought ot himself with a morbid quirk of humor.  _ ‘Relying on murder.’ _

The crows, somewhere, cawed.

“If we’re ever in a fight we can’t win,” the words were sour, like rot, “tell the crows we need help”

Sakura blinked, a thousand questions in her eyes.

Instead, she nodded and whispered a small “alright, Sasuke.”

* * *

There was a monster on the rampage, a screaming contorted creature that was once Gaara. Sakura woke up only briefly, choking and suffocating on sand and claws splitting her skin.

It hurt, it lashed at her flesh and burned in her eyes. It trickled into her ears and up her nose until she felt it scratching her throat bloody raw.

Tighter and tighter, pinning her further into the sharp bark of the tree behind her as above them, the sky roared with a monstrosity and something that looked like a giant  _ toad. _

She exhaled and wheezed, feeling her vision start to fade. She could barely see Sasuke; twisting and contorting in agony as he screamed against the vicious black bleeding that drained him of strength.

She was going to die, they were all going to die.

“I-” She croaked, feeling the tears water against the grit in her eyes, and the horror and fear in her blood. She was going to  _ die. _

She was failing everyone, and she- she couldn’t-.

A flutter of wings, the constant watching eyes of the birds that observed Sasuke trembling on the branch.

“Cr-ow.” She said brokenly. “I- help. I-” the sand contracted and she lost her voice temporarily, “-elp us. H-help us.”

The crow looked, turning its head to stare down its dark beak in her direction. It stared, then slowly looked back at Sasuke. Then back at Sakura again.

Sakura didn’t know what the bird was supposed to do. 

The bird spread its wings, opened with a croaking  _ c-aw,  _ and flew away.

* * *

A crow landed on a nearby branch, the scraggly limb of a small shrub growing from cracked earth. Droughts avenging the ground, grasses tough and leathery.

Rock outcroppings and open sky, isolation in the expanse of the world.

_ “C-aww.”  _ The crow croaked, fluttering its wings unsure, shifting on its thin scaly legs as the small shrub quivered under the sun.  _ “C-aww.” _

A single arm outstretched, and the crow hopped onto the limb happily. Content with the pale skin that now formed its perch. A moment, then physical form had no hold as it melted into liquid, into ash that drifted apart into nothing at all.

“Oh.” A pause, the beating of a heart and cool meditative state. “Alright then.”

* * *

Sasuke was young when he trained with his brother in the forest outside the complex. Between the large trees that reached so high into the sky, the sun never touched the ground.

It was training for the both of them, that was the only reason that Itachi agreed. Or rather, that was the reason that he said out loud. Sasuke knew deep in his heart, that if he begged long enough, his brother would have stolen the stars for him.

“I’m going to find you!” Sasuke laughed, sprinting and peering around the thick trunks as fast as he could. “You can’t hide!”

Itachi tried not to smile, failing when Sasuke clashed into his side and playfully tackled him to the ground. The soft moss comforted them, but Itachi took care to twist and make sure his younger brother fell on his body instead of the roots.

“I found you!” Sasuke laughed, beaming as Itachi clicked his tongue with a secret smile.

“Find me again then, brother.” Itachi poked him, allowing the clone to vanish. Sasuke squawked, climbing to his feet to run off again, searching the forest for all the clones Itachi practiced conjuring.

If the sun marked the passage of hours, both boys were ignorant of it.

* * *

Funerals were somber affairs, a moment of silence for the passing of a legacy. The passing of something great, a moment of held breath.

Crows were normally loud things, noisy birds that covered trees and shrouded them in black. They were like the clothing for funerals that way, covering something darkly, present as murder.

Hokage was laid to rest, and the crows were silent in mourning.

* * *

Sakura squinted up, staring at the trees. She lifted one hand, trying to block the sun to see better. 

“Hey Naruto?’ She asked, knowing that the blonde was more likely to give a response. “Is there a spilled grain cart? Where did all the crows come from?”

“Eh?” Naruto glanced up from where he had been running through various forms. It was a lazy day of training, working on various techniques. Naruto squinted, brow wrinkling as he looked for all the birds. “Whoa! You’re right Sakura! Where did they all come from?”

Sakura blinked in surprise, looking through the nearby trees curiously. They seemed to be  _ everywhere,  _ hidden just out of sight but obvious if you were looking for them. 

Over across the clearing, there was another shriek as Sasuke let loose a huge plume of fire, an exhale igniting in such a way Sakura thought may actually be a danger since they  _ were  _ in a forest. Kakashi-Sensei didn’t look too concerned over it, and there was a river not too far away so if Sasuke’s temper got a bit too out of control, they could likely stop any fire from raging.

“Hey, Sakura.” Naruto squinted a small mischievous smile starting to spread across his face. “Do you have any rice balls? I wanna try to catch one to shove down Sasuke’s shirt.”

Sakura gasped, “that’s a horrible idea! He’s going to kill you!”

“Relax! Think of it as training! I’ll need to use my Shadow Clone Jutsu to grab one, and there’s so many crows! It’s training for me!”

Sakura chewed on her lower lip and looked over at Kakashi Sensei. Their teacher in question had particularly round eyes with one hand held to cover his mouth in delight, somehow absolutely focused on the book he had read so many times.

“Okay,” Sakura sighed, tugging out one of the rice balls she had been saving, “but if you get pecked it's not my fault!’

“Don’t worry about it!” Naruto beamed, casually duplicating himself into a dozen orange clones. “I’ll grab a bird fast! Believe it!”

Naruto and his clones leapt into the forest, climbing the trees frantically. A few birds cried out in surprise, flapping quickly to escape to other branches. 

There were a lot of crows, but there were also a lot of Naruto running around.

“Hey! Stop it you lousy bird!”  Naruto screeched, somehow having trapped a bird under his shirt. The bird was clearly not happy, making loud angry noises as it tried to escape again and again through his orange shirt.

“Hey Sakura!” Naruto laughed, beaming and causing a few hairline scratches on his cheek to start bleeding again, “look! I got one!{“

The bird screamed unhappy, apparently now pecking inwardly on Naruto’s skin.

“Oh Naruto.” Sakura sighed, “this isn’t going to go well.”

Naruto kept giggling to himself, waddling over like a pregnant woman about to birth something unholy. Kakashi glanced up briefly, one eyebrow rising as if the scene amused him. It was a miracle that Sasuke hadn’t noticed, a true testament to how hard he was studying.

Naruto kept walking, a clone he hadn’t banished helping him by sneaking up on Sasuke. 

“Oh dear,” Kakashi said to himself, tapping his chin in thought, “I hope Sasuke doesn’t hurt Naruto too badly.”

The clone casually tackled Sasuke to the ground, knocking him onto his backside. Sasuke quickly screeched, drawing and slicing a Kunai to destroy the clone. It vanished with a poof.

Naruto- the real one, pulled his shirt away and all while giggling, yanked his shirt over Sasuke’s head. The shirt now contained Sasuke, and a rather angry crow between Naruto’s belly and his orange shirt.

“Oh my.” Kakashi blinked twice. Closing his book to watch more eagerly.

A moment before Sasuke started to angrily screech. Then the bird screeched. Then Naruto screeched.

“Oh Naruto.” Sakura sighed in dismay.

* * *

“So,” Kakashi started, eye closed with how wide he was smiling, “what have we all learned today?”

“Naruto is an idiot.” Sakura rattled off.

“Naruto smells worse than your feet.” Sasuke hissed out, still prickling and thoroughly angered.

“I need to get a rabies shot.” Naruto huffed, causing Sakura to roll her eyes.

“Naruto, the bird never bit you! You don’t need to get a rabies shot.”

“Yeah but Sasuke bit me and I don’t want to catch something!’

Sasuke leapt at him, fire spitting from his mouth, “ _ why you little-.” _

The crow, sitting next to Kakashi and looking very annoyed, croaked pointedly. Its feathers looked fairly rumbled, one of its wings was a bit twisted.

“I’m a bit impressed you managed to catch one of them.” Kakashi tapped his chin, pausing before he very cautiously pet the crow’s head. “‘They’re normally quite sneaky.”

“Oh it was sneaky alright!” Naturo huffed, scratching his cheek where the scabs were already healing. “I was just sneakier! And I punched it.”

“Naruto! You can’t just punch birds!”

“Wa-ah?” Naruto huffed, scratching his head guiltily. “Well, I didn’t mean to hurt Mr. Crow. Is he going to be alright?”

The crow made a croaking noise, shifting on its feet. It’s slightly bent wing fluttered a bit oddly. 

Sasuke didn’t like the crow, he was sitting furthest away from it. Glaring at the bird almost more cruelly than the harsh look the bird had fixed across his face. 

“Well, I’m sure it’ll be okay.” Kakashi assured, petting the crow very carefully. It was only natural that Kakashi had a careful hand with dealing with wild animals, given that he had so many animal summons. “I’ll make sure it’s wing is fixed, I think it’s only sprained slightly.”

Naruto exhaled in relief. Sasuke glared at the bird harder. “You should just get rid of it.”

“Sasuke!” Sakura gasped in surprise, “It’s hurt! You can’t just leave it to be alone out here!”

“Why not?” Sasuke asked, tilting his head with a particularly pointed jab, “being abandoned and left alone seems  _ fine  _ to me!”

“Oof.” Naruto exhaled, doing a horrible job reading the tension. “That’s kinda mean, don’t you think?”

The bird shifted again, not looking away from Sasuke once.

“Well, I’m agreeing with Naruto for once, that is quite mean, Sasuke.” Kakashi smiled once again, reaching down to offer his hand to the crow. The bird glanced at the hand for a second before it looked up and locked eyes with Sasuke once more.

“I think I’ll keep this one around.” Kakashi offered, some sort of layer in his tone that nobody could completely understand. “You never know how convenient it may be having a crow. They can be excellent messengers, you know.”

Finally, the crow stepped onto Kakashi’s hand, staying balanced as he lifted the bird up to hobble awkwardly onto his shoulder. Kakashi looked even more odd with a big black bird next to his white hair.

“Tch.” Sasuke glared at the bird. The bird glared back.

* * *

 

The next day, Kakashi showed up with the crow on his shoulder. It had a small splint on, bandages that wrapped around its feathery body.

“You’re kidding.” Sasuke glared at the bird. The bird glared back.

“Don’t be so cranky!” Naruto argued, grinning with a piece of carrot stick held between two fingers. “Here birdie birdie! If I give it enough food, do you think I could train it to steal Sasuke’s knives?”

Sakura rolled her eyes, “right, because you think that  _ you  _ could train it.”

Kakashi clicked his tongue, “I’d be willing to bet it could steal Kunai.”

Sasuke huffed, glaring at the bird.

Naruto wilted with a huff, pulling back his carrot stick crankily. “Why do  _ you  _ get a bird? Maybe  _ I  _ want a bird!”

“You have toads Naruto!” Sakura argued, “If anything,  _ I  _ should get a bird!”

“That’s enough you two.” Kakashi smiled, “I have a feeling you’ll be changing your mind.”

_ C-aww.  _ The crow contributed with its glare.

* * *

_ “You don’t throw like that,”  _ Itachi had told him, very carefully skimming his fingertips along Sasuke’s arm. Itachi’s left arm had been injured, he was on leave for a few days before he healed enough to join active duty again.  _ “You’re hyperextending your elbow. It’s throwing off your aim.” _

Itachi adjusted him, shifting his shoulder and wrist into a slightly different posture. The smaller throwing stars in Sasuke’s grip were small in Itachi’s hands, dwarfed in size.

_ “Try again,”  _ Itachi guided him through the motion,  _ “you can do it this time.” _

_ THUNK.  _

Sasuke’s glared, breath heaving as he threw the kunai, feeling his shoulder click from the exertion. The knives in the tree were in a line, parallel with the trunk descending down towards the ground.

A few of the knives in the trunk were out of alignment, a few centimeters wandering. If he had been throwing this at a person, he could have killed someone with a few centimeters out of alignment.

Sasuke hissed out a breath, trying not to vibrate with how furious he was at himself. At his failure, his inability to throw knives in a  _ straight line. _

“Ah, Sasuke.” Kakashi noticed, raising one eyebrow pointedly, “don’t be so hard on yourself-.”

“I’m not improving!” Sasuke spat back furiously, “I’ll take a break when I can throw them in a straight line! Leave me alone!”

Kakashi scratched his face with a sigh, looking particularly unsure. “There’s Sasuke for you.”

The crow on his shoulder, shifted slightly. 

* * *

Sakura giggled, rolling one of the small balls towards the crow. It plucked it daintily, pausing a moment before choking it down.

“Whoa.” Naruto blinked at the crow, watching with fascination. “This bird is cool. I always thought that they were lame, but now that it’s here it isn’t so bad. Sorry for shoving you in my shirt, birdie!”

The crow didn’t bother peering up from its treat.

“What are you doing with that useless thing.” Sasuke sniffed, glaring at the bird. The crow didn’t bother looking over.

“He really likes Dango.” Sakura laughed, reaching out to carefully stroke the bird. It shook a little, ruffling its splinted wing. 

Sasuke stiffened, giving the bird a single look from the side of his eye. He stared at the bird, something unspoken in his gaze.

“Yeah! That bird knows how to live!” Naruto laughed, “If I were a bird, I’d only eat ramen.”

“You can’t live off ramen you know!” Sakura scolded. 

Sasuke stared at the crow and looked at the Dango with a considering look. 

* * *

“There,” Kakashi hummed, ignoring how both Naruto and Sakura watched eagerly as their sensei carefully unwrapped the bandages. The crow instantly spread its wings, stretching it's now healed joints. “That looks better.”

“Kakashi-Sensei are we going to let him go now?” Naruto pouted, ignoring how the bird clicked its beak at him.

“I don’t see why we should force it to stay.” Kakashi shrugged, offering his hand to the bird. The crow stepped on calmly, sharp eyesight staring over their shoulders.

“That crow sure does like Sasuke.” Sakura huffed, “I don’t know why.”

“Well, crows do have a wonderful memory.” Kakashi offered knowingly. “I was under the belief that Sasuke used to feed the crows.”

Sasuke bristled, tensing and curling in on himself. “That was a long time ago.”

“Hmm, was it?” Kakashi asked, “I must have forgotten, you know how distracted I get.”

Naruto deflated. “Only because you’re always reading porn!”

Kakashi shrugged. Sasuke stared at the bird, a small twist to his mouth. “What do you feed that lousy thing.”

Kakashi didn’t blink. “He likes cabbage.”

Sasuke flinched.

* * *

“You know,” Kakashi sighed, lounging around on the top of a house. It had a wonderful view of the shopping complex below, and it was always interesting to see what people purchased. “You don’t need to stay in that form. I’d recognize you anywhere.”

The crow on his shoulder fluttered slightly, but didn’t hop down.

“Ah, years ago it must have been when you were last like that.” Kakashi mused in thought, “was that the mission in the backcountry? Or the infiltration one? You always were quite exceptional at espionage.”

The crow shifted, and said nothing.

Kakashi sighed, reclining a bit further back into a lazy posture. “Why are you here, Itachi?”

* * *

Itachi had always been loyal to Konohagakure, perhaps he was loyal to a fault.

Konoha was his home, his duty that he had sworn to protect. He would do everything in his life to protect the village, he would perform his duties properly for those with best intentions to the village.

Itachi had learned, quite quickly, that Danzo did  _ not  _ have the best intentions for the village, despite what he would say.

He had made a deal before, that protection for the village was secured in exchange for protection over the last of the Uchiha clan- his brother. 

But that promise had been broken with the sight of that- that  _ foul curse mark. _

Danzo had broken his vow, he was no ally to the leaf and he was no ally to Itachi. That meant that the concept of peace was not a reality with the eye of Danzo watching movements.

Plus, above all of that, his crows had told him that Sasuke needed his help.

* * *

Itachi Uchiha would do anything, for Sasuke.

* * *

“I see.” Lady Tsunade, the fifth hokage, said. She had one hand under her chin, propping her head up. Her eyes were bright, alert and sharp. Kakashi shrugged, leaning against the doorway.

The door had been sealed shut, they were completely isolated and well out of prying eyes.

“This isn’t…” Lady Tsunade frowned, thinking. “...and you’re positive about this?”

Kakashi sighed tiredly, “Lord Danzo is not to be trusted. My information is absolute on this, in fact, it may be the most important thing I’ve ever said.”

Tsunade’s nose wrinkled ever so slightly. “That’s a...a fair amount of information. Do you have evidence? Anyone else that can support your claims? Not that i’m doubting you, but working upon this without evidence would be hard.”

Kakashi shifted uncomfortably. “I hate to say this, but...we could...quietly deal with Danzo.”

Tsunade chilled, the entire room freezing ever so slightly. “You’re suggesting using lethal force against Lord Danzo. Do you have  _ any idea  _ what could happen if this news came out? What it could  _ mean?” _

“I uh, I do.” Kakashi cringed slightly, he  _ had  _ attempted to assassinate a hokage before.

“Then you see why that’s not an option.” Tsunade snapped out. “No shinobi of mine is doing that.”

The crow shuffled slightly on Kakashi’s shoulder, a new addition to team seven if she weren’t mistaken.

She stared at the crow, and it stared back. Something heavy and  _ different  _ settled over her, thick and tangible.

“Who is your guest?” She asked Kakashi, lifting both eyebrows. Despite the friendly gesture, nothing in her expression was kind.

“He uh…” Kakashi cringed  _ further,  _ “you’re not going to like this at all.”

Tsunade looked back at the bird, opening her mouth to inquire once more before-.

Why did the bird have  _ sharinga- _

* * *

_ I want to show you something,  _ the world spun and inverted. Twisting and cycling through eyes that weren’t hers and a world that wasn’t real and-

“What-” She choked out, unable to stop the thrill and rise of panic and horror, the unquenchable rise of bile and disgust that rushed through her body. Worse than blood, worse than a thousand deaths and the final cries of all her allies.

There was something wrong about this, something of insanity but a realness that was impossible and-

_ I want to show you the truth.  _

The world twisted, pictures and life swirled rapid cycling.

Lady Tsunade  _ saw. _

* * *

“Ah, sorry I’m late.” Kakashi gave a small wave, ignoring how all three of his students shrieked in dismay. He was only a couple hours late, not bad considering. 

“Liar!” Naruto accused, looking a bit distressed, but it may have been the hungry look on his face. “I’ve been here for hours!”

“Oh don’t be like that.” Kakashi soothed, “you know, time is an illusion.”

“That’s enough crap.” Sasuke grunted, giving the crow a stink eye.

_ ‘Ah’  _ Kakashi thought to himself grimly.  _ ‘This may not go over that well.’ _

“I miss the days you all were worshiped the ground I walked on.” Kakashi sighed, running one hand through the hair on the back of his neck.

Naruto managed one ugly scowl as he growled out, “that ended when you tied me to a tree!”

“Yeah!” Sakura huffed angrily, “and when you kept us waiting for three hours!”

Kakashi helplessly glanced over at Sasuke, who huffed and turned away passive aggressively.

“And here I was, thinking about introducing you all to summons.” Kakashi deflated.

Sasuke and Sakure both perked slightly, eyeing him with something hesitant.

“Big deal!” Naruto practically roared, beaming so wide the scars on his cheeks were practically wrinkles. “I already  _ have  _ a summon!”

“What!” Sakura shouted, looking ready to throw fists. “Since  _ when!  _ That’s not fair Naruto! Why do you get a summon!”

Sasuke, typical to his character, sulked.

“Maa,” Kakashi blinked slowly, “this isn’t going at all how I hoped.”

* * *

Sasuke was the most hesitant of the group, unwilling to listen or even practice the various summoning jutsu that Kakashi had offered.

Sakura at least had more curiosity, desperately channeling chakra into the empty contract paper that Kakashi had brought with him. Naruto of course didn’t have to bother with the exercise, since he was in some sort of argument with a more simplistic yellow toad. From what Kakashi had overheard, they were arguing over the best tasting brands of cheap food.

Sakura had split her lip from how hard she had bit it, focusing to the point where her body swayed slightly. She may be one of the few that didn't have any sort of predisposition for summons; it wasn’t exactly common to have a species of animal innately curious or interested in you. Kakashi was lucky that his dogs had chosen  _ him,  _ not the other way around.

Sasuke on the other hand, had accepted the blank paper but made no motions to actively using it. At all.

“You know,” Naruto shouted, his fat yellow toad now sitting on his equally yellow hair, “you’re not better than us if you think you don’t need summons! Summoning is cool!”

Sasuke’s following voice was frosty. “I’m not interested.”

Even Sakura looked alarmed. “But all great nin have summons! You never know when they could be helpful!”

“Or just fun!” Naruto shouted, grinning with leaves stuck in his hair. His toad was looking particularly pleased.

Sasuke stiffly crossed his arms. “I don’t need  _ summons.” _

“You never know,” Kakashi input quickly, “sometimes even the smallest of contracts can be life or death in the end.”

Sasuke glared, eyes so sharp and icy that he may as well have activated his Sharingan. “I don’t  _ need  _ a summon!”

“Why are you being such a jerk about it?” Naruto muttered sourly.

“Oh!” Sakura’s expression lit up like a torch. “It’s because you already have a summon!”

“What.” Naruto said.

“What.” Sasuke said.

“You do!” Sakura snapped her thumb, looking decidedly pleased. “That’s why you said talk to the crows!”

Sasuke stiffened inwards; if Kakashi thought he was mad before then  _ oh  _ dear that was nothing.

Kakashi sighed, weighing the odds of having to intervene before things got worse.

“Crows?” Naruto squinted, “is that why you said not to touch them? Hey! You can’t just own all of them! I want a crow! Kakashi-Sensei has a crow!”

_ C-aww,  _ Kakashi’s passenger provided calmly.

Sasuke flinched ever so slightly. “They’re  _ not  _ my summon, and I  _ don’t want them!” _

Sakure made a small noise of confusion. Naruto’s toad made a low croaking noise.

“Well,” Kakashi said, trying to shift the topic the best he could, “I particularly like this bird. Who knows, maybe this time we’ll find Naruto when he gets stuck in a tree.”

“That was one time!” Naruto shrieked, voice cracking. 

With that, the crow situation was brushed aside.

* * *

The crows  _ were  _ watching him, Sasuke knew that.

“Leave me alone!”’ He shouted at night, holding a knife ready in his open palm. It was too dark to try and discern the black bodies from the night, but God knew that he’d try anyways.

He bared his teeth like broken fangs, and watched with bloodied eyes.

* * *

Lady Tsunade sat at her desk, hands folded in front of her mouth to hide the small frown on her lips.

She knew the situation, of course. She knew it well, but it didn’t do to dwell on things she couldn’t change. There were a few areas she could focus on- areas that she had to try and invest her waking hours towards. The most alarming situation at hand was the rise of this...hidden conspiracy, all of the information that had been hidden from her sight  _ despite  _ being in the highest ranking position within the village.

What a foul thing, conspiracy. Nothing made her feel quite so ill as the minds turning corrupt with power, and the abuse of status against others.

“I don’t like this at all.” Lady Tsunade confessed flatly, thinking as quickly as she could. Kakashi at least looked right at peace, slouching along the back wall casually with his face burrowed in a book.

“I find that I like very few things concerning my team.” Kakashi sighed wistfully. “I miss the days they were arguing over chasing a cat.”

Lady Tsunade managed the smallest glimpse of a smile. “It must have been quite a cat.”

Kakashi made a flat noise, turning his page without care.

The Hokage looked back at her desk, long nail running along the various documents that did not seem conclusive, but spoke volumes to her. There was something very unsettling with all of this, the careful removal of information in areas where it should not have been touched. It was almost as unsettling as Oromachi’s removal from the village, something she’d never forget. Yet, it was strikingly similar to the hand of distant interference. Whatever had been happening here had been intruding for quite a while.

“I don’t like where we’re positioned, currently.” Tsunade confessed boldly. “I’m afraid that the longer we wait, the more your team may appear to be a political pawn.”

“Well,” Kakashi mused. “I feel bad for the politicians who believe that.”

“Quite.” Tsunade agreed. “Not to mention, it has been referenced countless times throughout the documentation that an unnamed guard and status has been in effect for quite some while, individuals have been interfering with our missions it seems for decades.”

Orochimaru was on the move as well, Tsunade knew enough about that disgusting curse mark to recognize that the sanin would not settle for letting Sasuke go. For some reason, Orochimaru was now fixated on the small child on Kakashi’s team. Kakashi was an experienced ninja, one of the best in the village, but even she was unsure if he was quite the one to go up against the legendary sannin.

“I want to put Sasuke under watch.” Lady Tsunade confessed, “he’s going to be a target for Orochimaru whenever he returns. Once Sasuke Uchiha is protected, I can start looking into this spider’s web to try and figure what has been going on. I have a feeling that this will end with bloodshed.”

“Ah, I wouldn’t mind.” Kakashi smiled from under his mask. “I already have my eyes on Sasuke, I don’t think anyone will be getting anywhere close anytime soon.”

Tsunade stiffened and sat upright quickly. “Oh, you  _ didn’t.” _

Kakashi blinked wide with one eye, trying to look innocent with only a third of his face exposed. “Who? Me? I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“If this ends with another Uchiha murder,” Tsunade said. “I will be very upset with you.”

* * *

The crows started screaming in the trees, loud noises that screamed in the dusk. It was enough that Naruto and Sakura both sprinted out of home, racing along pathways towards the flock of birds all heading to the woods outside the village.

Sakura knew enough to tell when there was a bad omen in the air, and something had been tickling her wrong for a while now. When she caught sight of Naruto, he too had the same grimace of concern.

They kept running, wheezing for breath and feeling the heavy sense of dread press down on them. It didn’t help them move faster, but it did brighten their senses and leave them alert.

The crows kept screaming, loud croaking noises, before they all cut off sharply. A single synchronized sound that rang silent. Sakura noticed she had goosebumps only when she looked at her exposed arms.

Naruto wasn’t one to wait up; a half dozen clones sprinted off into the darkness, weaving between trees as the original kept pace with the slower Sakura. How far could Sasuke be? 

(In the end, it could have only ever been Sasuke who was in trouble.)

They skittered into a clearing, a small thing that wasn’t large enough to have the fading rays of sunset pierce through. Everything was tinted hazy brown, closer to grey than red. It wasn’t much light, but it was enough to discern that laying on the ground was a corpse that did not belong to a resident of the leaf. In fact, the thick body build of the man and the weird outfit along his hips screamed of the grass-nin that had attached them during the second exam. The same nin who had been dead for days, disguised around the body of a snake.

“Orochimaru!” Naruto clued in quickly, gasping in recognition over the strange garb and the symbols across the clothing. “No! He’s here for Sasuke!”

“This nin’s dead.” Sakura said the obvious. Staring at the blood which had congealed into a thick sticky paste. He had been dead a short while, likely before the crows had been silent.

“Let’s go.” Naruto tugged her in a direction, leaving the darker skinned male behind them. He had looked experienced, well above their abilities. They both knew, that it wasn’t Sasuke who could have killed him.

There were  _ so many dead nin. _

Another one, a woman who looked younger than Kakashi-Sensei with red hair and a screaming snarl frozen on her glassy face. Her side was torn open in a clean slice, a kunai lodged between the gap of her trachea and arteries, managing to hit both.

“Naruto.” Sakura whispered, sticking close to her teammate. This was worse than the Chunin exams, worse than Gaara turning rabid and feral on everyone around them.

Another woman was dead on the ground, hair silvery white although her head itself was severed from her body. Another male; at that point, Sakura stopped looking.

They could hear a clang of metal on something sharp, a resounding ring through the trees that didn’t quite match the sound of blade on blade.

“Let’s go!” Naruto roared, energy thrumming through him as he leapt, kicking off from tree to tree with ferocious determination burning in his eyes. “Sasuke! Sasuke hang on!”

They came across- no, they  _ stumbled  _ into the area in question where a battle was being fought. Scarily close to the village, a concerning far distance from home.

The trees were thick and dark, large gouges from some sort of cleaver slicing through bark and wood in a single swing. Something strong and fast, gouges and broken limbs on the forest floor around the thick moss.

“Duck!” Naruto warned, managing to kick a fairly large falling tree limb away just enough that Sakura was safe from danger.

“Thanks!” She gasped out, trying not to choke on the anxiety of it all. “Sasuke! Sasuke where are you!”

“Here!” Naruto shouted, pointing upwards at the first junction of the massive trees. Sasuke was curled on his side, twitching and jerking uncontrollably as his skin burned and healed and burned all over. It looked painful, wrong in a horrible sense.

“Whoa,” Naruto gasped, eyes wide in alarm. “Is this from that weird bruise thing?”

“Orochimaru bit him!” Sakura blurted, dropping to her knees to try and uncurl Sasuke’s seizing body from the trunk of the tree. “During the second exam! He’s been off since-.”

“No way,” Naruto blinked in surprise, clearly he hadn’t known. A second passed, before his eyebrows furrowed and his lips parted in a silent snarl.

“No! Don’t!” Sakura urged, trying to help as Sasuke wheezed out a rattling animal noise of pain. His skin- the infectious bloody mark was trailing across his skin so cruelly. “We need to get him back to the village!”

Another clang of something sharp, of something moving rapidly- then what looked like a sharpened  _ femur  _ dropped and impaled itself only a few lengths away from them.

Naruto shouted out a cry, a wordless sound of surprise. He skittered away from the bone, the bleached chalky colour of it, to press his back against Sakura protectively.

“Don’t worry,” Naruto breathed, his nostrils flaring as he squinted into the dark, “I won’t let-.”

Another cry, a loud shuddering feral noise of agony, then something  _ large  _ plummeted through to the ground. Smashing into the dirt, uprooting small shrubbery and clacking together like teeth chattering. A moment, then a tall dark figure landed softly on the same branch as them.

Sakura’s breathing hitched and she yanked out a knife, holding it carefully as Sasuke continued to thrash near her hip. Naruto was slowly getting prepared to move, his entire body trembling with the force of his protectiveness.

They didn’t need it, before almost  _ seconds  _ after, the clearing seemed to crash open under the combined efforts of  _ three  _ nin-dogs.

“Pakkun!” Sakura gasped in relief, shoulders loosening as the small hound landed in a crouch next to her, sniffing Sasuke’s whimpering body quickly.

“Yep,” Pakkun said in his low baritone, “he’s in pain alright.”

A soft swish of air being moved, then the branch trembled  _ again  _ as two more people landed on it. In the midst of the adrenaline, Sakura wondered how many people could possibly fit more on this little branch they all shared.

“Sakura, is he alright?” Kakashi-Sensei was suddenly there, single Sharingan activated and slowly subtly in the dark. He instantly dropped into a crouch, not looking disturbed by the awkward hold that gravity had on his angled body. “I heard that he was kidnapped, does he have any wounds?”

“I don’t think so.” Sakura managed to choke out, “he’s just...he’s…”

Another thump, at this rate, Sakura was going to throw her knife into the mass of people and hope she managed to hit someone in the eye.

“It wasn’t us!” Naruto defended himself in a near howl, “we just came right after! Sasuke’s been screaming and wriggling like that and we don’t know what’s wrong with-.”

“Hush.” The newcomer, soft and gentle. Lady Tsunade’s hair was impossible to see, but her voice was easy. “It’s alright now, Naruto. It appears we were all notified at the same time. Are you two hurt at all?”

“No.” Naruto’s face scrunched up slightly, “but something really big went flying past us! Into the ground down there and-.”

“Dead, don’t worry.” Kakashi informed them distractedly. “Sakura, let me take him. I can get back to the village before you.”

“What! No way!” Naruto instantly argued, “we just found him! I’ve gotta make sure that Sasuke gets back okay!”

“I have a feeling,” Lady Tsunade said very calmly, “that Sasuke has not been touched in the slightest. Am I correct?”

A pause, then from behind both her and Kakashi- towards the end of the limb a quiet deep voice murmured softly, “ _ yes.” _

Sasuke made a small  _ eep!  _ And Naruto full out jumped.

“You!” Naruto shouted into the dark, unable to see details besides the tall outline. “You were the one that took down that thing! Who are you!”

“Naruto, let me.” Lady Tsunade didn’t even look away from where Kakashi was very carefully prying Sasuke’s fingers from where his nails had burrowed into the skin of his leg. The marks across his flesh seemed to settle into a smoldering dark stain. “I want a debrief, now.”

A pause, another hitch of Sakura’s breath before the low smooth mumble from the end of the branch. “...Five adversaries. Sasuke Uchiha was their target. All adversaries eliminated.”

Lady Tsunade didn’t look over her shoulder. “Estimation of skill?”

“A-rank. All showing signs of experimentation.Chakra control mediocre, likely sacrificial tools.”

Sakura shuddered and Naruto growled low in his throat. “Hey! You can’t just- just say someone was-.”

“Naruto.” Lady Tsunade hissed out quietly, Kakashi finally standing with Sasuke in his arms. “This is not the time, or place. Let’s get back, we’ll send for you to check on your friend when we’ve determined the situation.”

“No! I want to go back now!” Naruto screeched. “That’s not fair! You can’t take him from us!”

“We just want to make sure that Sasuke is okay!” Sakura intervened, managing to her feet as Kakashi paused, still holding the young Uchiha carefully.

Lady Tsunade sighed and rubbed her forehead. “ _ Fine.  _ New objective, remove the bodies, leave them outside the guard shift rotation so we can examine them-.”

“Understood.” The same low voice, then a small vibration to signify that whoever it was had left.

“Wow.” Naruto growled, “that guys more of a jerk than Sasuke!”

Kakashi choked on his breathe, although Sakura couldn’t fathom why.

* * *

Sakura was hating how she was getting used to seeing Sasuke in a bed. He never looked better, if anything, he just looked worse.

It helped a bit that Sasuke was actually awake this time, not like after he had been bit and left unconscious for days. Last time, Lady Tsunade herself had to revive him with her healing abilities. 

The door slid open, Sasuke glanced over with a jolt only to relax at the sight of the Hokage herself walking into the room. She looked exhausted and stressed, somehow guilty.

“Hello there,”’ She smiled, eyes downcast as Sasuke slowly stirred. It was a relief that he wasn’t asleep this time, just exhausted and hurting.

“Do you know what happened?” She asked him, settling into the chair on his opposite side. “I have a rough idea, but anything you can provide would be a great help.”

Sasuke’s eyes flickered away, he stared at a wall with a tense jaw.

“I won’t be upset with you.” Lady Tsunade continued soothingly, “It wasn’t your fault, the foreign nin were-.”

“I should have fought them off.” Sasuke clipped out sourly. “Instead they just…”

Sasuke’s hand twitched into a sharp fist. His knuckles white with how tight his grip.

The door swung open with enough force to slam into the back of the wall. It was their luck that they had all the medical suites reinforced with that in mind.

“Sasuke!” Naruto nearly screamed, barrelling into the room. Only one quick hand on Naruto’s shoulder refrained him from nearly leaping onto Sasuke. “You’re okay!”

Sasuke’s face twitched.

“You’re looking better.” Kakashi noted, eye scrunching up in a smile. “You were in quite a state when we found you.”

Sasuke  _ glared,  _ and Kakashi’s smile started to falter.

“We understand the situation, and we also stress that it must remain confidential.” Lady Tsundere smoothed over, her lip shifting ever so slightly. “In order of ranking, technically, this would be a S-rank mission for you all.”

Naruto’s jaw dropped and Sakura inhaled in alarm. Even Sasuke looked a bit surprised by the rank.

“This is a big mission for anyone.” Kakashi interjected, quickly his posture turned serious. “In fact, this mission is so top secret, only this room knows about it.”

Sasuke’s face clouded slightly. “Why is my  _ kidnapping  _ so secret?”

Lady Tsundere reached out, tapping her fingers along his clenched knuckles. “It isn’t...per say...the  _ kidnapping,  _ but it is the outcome of it.”

“No way!” Naruto gasped, “you mean that tall strange jerk that showed up?  _ He’s  _ top secret?”

“What tall jerk?” Sasuke blurted in confusion, “I thought- I thought  _ you  _ caught up to me.”

“We didn’t.” Sakura shifted uncomfortably. “Well, me and Naruto caught up, but when we managed to get to you, there were already all these d-dead bodies and-.”

“You were recovered by an operative of ours that is  _ confidential  _ information.” Kakashi said firmly. “If any of you are to reveal this information, you’re revoked of your genin status  _ immediately,  _ and are not permitted to  _ ever  _ serve.”

Naruto paled instantly. Sasuke’s expression didn’t shift.

“Whoa…” Naruto breathed in surprise. “...this is some secret stuff, isn’t it Granny?”

“I’m serious.” Lady Tsundere said flatly. “The information brought to us incriminates not only a single individual, but nearly the entire court of Elders in the village.”

Sasuke flinched back. “ _ What?” _

“It’s bad news.” Kakashi added flatly. “You’re not going to like it.”

Sakura looked at Sasuke worriedly, “you shouldn’t stress yourself-.”

“Who is it.” Sasuke clipped out, voice a low snarl. Kakashi sighed and scratched the side of his face. 

“Seems to me like you already know.” Kakashi said.

Sasuke nearly lunged to his feet- only staying down when the Lady Tsundere’s hand on his chest turned out to be a restraint, not a comfort.

“Where is he!” Sasuke  _ roared,  _ “I’m going to  _ kill him!” _

“Whoa there.” Naruto skittered back, looking disturbed by it all. “Relax, Sasuke! Don’t throw such a fit!”

Sasuke screamed something else wordlessly, his Sharingan activating with the high rise of his anger.

Lady Tsundere sighed, pulling her hand back to rub her forehead angrily. “I take it he won’t show?”

“Likely not.” Kakashi offered helpfully.

“Right.” Tsundere looked exhausted as she plucked a kunai from somewhere on her hip.

Without any sort of hesitation, she flipped the knife and plunged it downwards.

_ C-lang. _

It was impressive. Undeniably so with the speed in which metal moved and materialized to clip the edge of the kunai  _ just so.  _ Both tips angled away, Lady Tsunade’s wrist twisting far enough that all force behind the attack was negated. Expertly maneuvered, expertly executed.

“Well,” Kakashi offered, sighing through his nose with something tight no matter how carefully dismissive he tried to make it sound. “Nice of you to stop by.”

Irony, given that Kakashi had never shown up to something on time in a day in his life. But of course, that didn’t matter considering the missing-nin holding a knife dangerously close to their Hokage.

The kunai, only a few inches from Sasuke’s face, left him paling in the realization of how close his  _ hokage  _ was to  _ stabbing him.  _ There had been no hesitation in her movements either. Cleanly executed, full force behind the swing too if the sound of metal on metal was any indication. Sasuke knew that the Hokage had never been fond of him, sometimes he wondered if the outright hostility was justified. He hadn’t anticipated her ever attempting to bluntly swing a knife at him.

Sakura made a noise, pained and low. Something anxious that Sasuke remembered hearing only in battle after a bad blow. Sakura wilted often. 

“Whoa.” Naruto whispered to himself, eyes wide as he glanced back and forth. Naruto couldn’t help the small gulp, the lump in his throat that got stuck halfway down.

Lady Tsunade didn’t smile, but she didn’t falter either. Her grip was strong- Naruto knew firsthand how powerful her attacks were. It wasn’t easy to keep her knife off a target.

“Sorry about that,” Kakashi confessed, one hand lifting to rub the back of his head sheepishly. His body was tense though, even as he smiled casually like it was nothing serious. He was expecting a fight, and prepared to intervene under a moments notice. “We hadn’t quite decided how to say hello.”

Sasuke twitched, vibrating slightly as his eyes very slowly trailed down the exposed arm holding the knife- locked in standstill.

“Itachi Uchiha.” Lady Tsunade said, abrupt and short. Clipped word yet they had an undeniable power behind them. “In order of the Godaime Hokage, you are ordered to  _ stand down.” _

Itachi Uchiha’s fingers tightened ever so slightly. Enough that the nail beds lightened and his grip stilled. He didn’t tremble in the slightest, even as he prevented Tsunade’s attack from progressing forward.

“That’s an order!” She shouted, eyes bright and face sharp. “I order you to  _ stand down.” _

Sasuke hadn’t heard his brother’s voice in years. He remembered it, crawling over him like bugs and insects writhing under his skin. Haunting him at night, creeping behind his eyes sometimes when he walked through the Uchiha compound at night.

He couldn’t help the low involuntary whimper, that instinctual flinch as he heard the low cold voice.

“I’m not affiliated with Konohagakure.”

Something about the blunt statement said something more. Kakashi took a half step forward, the casual tint to his face fading to the seriousness of the situation.

“Sakura, Naruto, step back for a second, maa.” Kakashi shrugged casually. The two genin practically leapt backwards to get out of instant striking range.

From this close, Tsunade could easily see the pale sickly sheen to Sasuke’s skin. Eyes wide and glassy, dazed and absolutely terrified. The knife, in front of his throat, did not inch closer.

“I will repeat myself once more.” Tsunade said very calmly. “I, Lady Tsunade, the Godaime Hokage of Konohagakure order you to  _ stand down, Itachi Uchiha.” _

The tense pause was short, so small it would be impossible to notice to an untrained eye. There was a second, a flicker, and the knife force relented just a moment.

Itachi Uchiha withdrew.

* * *

They say there are moments, hidden behind the unimportant parts, that define who we are as human beings. Small glimmer of truth, of genuine action that define us entirely in a few seconds.

You could build yourself as a  liar, construct of throne of half-truths and misinformation, but your heart itself could not be hidden.

You could split yourself open and become something you aren’t. You could commit sins and become a monster willingly, but never truly kill yourself.

Itachi Uchiha would always love his brother.

* * *

Itachi didn’t stay. Instead, he sent only one searing glare towards the Hokage and shifted apart, his entire body faltering and melting away like shadows. It was strikingly similar to other techniques, woven without hand signs.

“A genjutsu?” Sakura blurted, unable to withhold her noise of distress. Genjitsu were difficult things, but to expertly craft one around not one but  _ five  _ people seamlessly seemed something impossible.

Lady Tsunade smiled, her lip quirking upwards ever so slightly. She flicked her wrist, sheathing the blade back where it had always been. The oppressive chill from before had vanished the moment the elder Uchiha left.

“I am sorry for your distress,” Tsunade addressed to Sasuke pointedly, “we had to confirm a single detail before making any actions.”

Sasuke wasn't looking good. Pale but flushed, eyes dilated as he swayed ever so slightly from his seated position on the hospital bed. It had been sudden, unexpected. Life changed with no mercy for anyone.

“Oh, you’re looking a bit spooked.” Kakashi noted, tilting his head slightly. An understatement at its best.

“Allow me,” Tsunade said, her words and actions an apology. Sasuke couldn’t track the signs, nor could he think. A slight glimmer of glow, chakra ebbed into his skin and coaxed his blood pressure to turn steady. Shock and chill receded, and left him feeling distantly blank.

“I want you to send word for Jiraiya right away.” Tsunade barely gave pause. “I want him here for this.”

“Eh!” Naruto said. “Why do you want pervy-sage? What does  _ he  _ have to do with-.”

“Naruto.” Tsunade said. “I know you have questions, but I need you to stay silent. This is of utmost importance.”

Sasuke exhaled, tension leaving his chest. He slid backwards, reclining on pillows as he stared forward blankly. 

“Sasuke…” Sakura whispered, taking a few small steps forward. One hand outstretched, unsure and longing to help in any way she could.

“He’s fine.” Kakashi shrugged, taking claim to the hospital chair. “I’ll be watching over him.”

Tsunade shushed the children out, swearing them to secrecy. It wouldn’t do for having the hokage within a hospital room of a genin, it would draw far too much attention to what was at stake. Kakashi already was pushing it, it was only the fact he had trained Sasuke for the chunin exams which allowed him to stay so focused. 

Even then, it felt like far too much.

* * *

It didn’t rain often in Konoha, but when it did it poured. Sasuke had heard once when he was young, that it was their ancestors practicing jutsu. Sending water from the sky to feed the crops, to clean the poison that always sprouted on occasion. 

Sasuke hadn’t believed it of course. He knew about thermals and air pressure. His clan specialized in fire element, breathing dragon flame and rising with phoenix wings. The idea that his ancestors were sending water was stupid. Childish.

That being said, he couldn’t help but watch the water bounce off his window. The water drops trailed down, like tear tracks on the glass. 

Kakashi wasn't there- he had duties. Even Sasuke knew that. With the attack and Orochimaru’s interference, ANBU had become more important. Tighter and meaner, securing the borders with a tight fist. Sasuke knew that Kakashi couldn’t watch him all the time.

He heard that Sakura had started taking lessons from Lady Tsunade, and he heard that Naruto had been taken under the wing by someone he called  _ pervy-sage.  _

Sasuke wasn’t under anyone's wing, except the crow on the window sill looking very very wet.

* * *

Sasuke was released from the hospital. His hips felt sore and his bones ached in a way only restlessness could prompt. He had half a heart to walk to the training grounds, to throw kunai until his fingers bubbled with blisters.

He didn’t. His feet guided him back home, through the roped off creaking gates of the Uchiha district and along the overgrown cobblestone roads. They had one had carts move down the streets, pulled by the big black horses a rancher had bred for Uchiha traffic especially. They didn’t use horses often- even an untrained civilian could track them easily, but they were able to transport goods and produce around what they called home.

Sasuke didn’t know where the horses went. He didn’t know if the ban on using black horses had been lifted and now other clans had dark horses pulling plows or carts. He couldn’t find it in himself to care. They once had horses but they once had people too.

His house was empty and quiet, cold because the fire pit had not burned when he was gone. 

There wasn’t any dust on the floor; he hadn’t been ill long enough for a difference to be made. It looked just like how he left it.

Sasuke didn’t know why, but he wished it had been changed somehow.

* * *

“Are you going to sit there all day?” Sasuke asked, voice low and sharp. The shrukin in his hand was a reassuring weight. The crow on the power line stared at him, all dark feathers and darker eyes.

“Well?” Sasuke bit out, skin prickling and itchy. “Answer me!”

The bird adjusted itself slightly, regaining balance from a tiny wind. Further away, outside the district towards downtown Konoha, Sasuke could hear the world waking up.

The crow tilted its head, mapping his face. They said that Crows were one of the few birds that could memorize people, could remember faces and never forget. It was fitting almost, in a horrible sort of way.

“If you don’t leave, I’m going to  _ kill you.”  _ Sasuke spat out. His neck burned, the curse seal hot and angry. The crow didn’t move.

The shrunken lodged itself in the electrical pole, a few inches below where it sat. It didn’t move until the blade was stuck firm, then it opened its wings and flapped lazily. It soared towards the next post, not that far away. Sasuke threw another blade- this too missed slightly.

It took a few minutes and heaving breaths for Sasuke to recognize the bird had been baiting him- hopping from location to location as he dutifully threw weapons. They had all come close, all missed the same uniform amount.  _ Practice. _

“I hate you.” Sasuke bit out, hot tears flooding the red tint to his vision. His sharingan spun, whirring around in his skull. “I  _ hate you!” _

_ C-aww,  _ the crow said to him, settling down once more.

* * *

Kakashi hadn’t come to check in on him. He had a note pinned to his door, just saying to stay low. Sasuke was smart enough to know that the politics of Konoha were shifting, that the hokage was planning something drastic and somehow the  _ traitor  _ was a key piece to it.

Sasuke hadn’t even seen  _ Naruto,  _ who normally screeched from the rooftops and disrupted shingles daily. Sasuke didn’t leave the compound either.

He hated it, that he lived in the empty shell of what life could have been. He remembered in the academy when they learned basic shinobi laws- how his classmates asked in puzzled tones why the abused wouldn’t leave their abusers. Why people wouldn’t abandon something painful and sick to them and seek safety and health.

Sasuke couldn’t ever call them foolish, because who was he to uproot himself and leave the empty graveyard he now lived in?

Sasuke bared his teeth at the crows, spotting them sitting boldly on the fence posts. All were above him, just out of reach from his knives. He could aim and plan accordingly, but he knew that killing one would do nothing to dissuade them from following him.

_ Fine,  _ Sasuke thought to himself bitterly,  _ I don’t care. _

Sasuke’s shirt had been ruined, his last outer coat was frayed and tattered. Sasuke hadn’t been taught how to patch well- how to embroider and repair that which had been broken. He needed a new jacket.

Sasuke knew it was stupid to feel guilty, but he always felt that painful sting when he stole. When he invaded the empty houses and cleared them of possessions- snatching a warmer blanket or new knives. He didn’t have a right to the heirlooms, he didn’t have a right to what people lost.

He had been given permission- lifetimes ago, to the hand-me-downs of his not-brother. When he had gone swimming and learned how to tread water, under the sun and the sticky air of summer. His clothes were wet, coated in the thick silt of the river’s bottom. Shisui found it hilarious, had tripped Itachi and sent him skidding in the dirt.

_ “Can’t go back in those dirty things,”  _ Shisui teased, searching through his closet. Shisui had no siblings, but his family survived off the work he did. Shisui was frugal and conscientious to keep everything he owned. Even his childhood clothing shrouded Sasuke’s smaller body. Itachi looked offended, wearing borrowed shirts with the shoulder slipping down. Shisui was wider, and Itachi was lanky and lean.

_ “Come here, Sasuke.”  _ Shisui teased, plucking pins to help stop Sasuke from drowning in fabric.  _ “You can have anything of mine, yeah?” _

Shisui’s house was small, abandoned. Sasuke knew that Shisui’s father was sick in mind and didn’t remember things, then he didn’t remember how to live. Shisui had supported his family, and had taught Sasuke how to swim.

Shisui used to smell like pine needles; he fell asleep in the top branches of the redwoods where the sap would turn to rosin and clump his hair together. 

Shisui’s shirts now smelled like dust.

* * *

Kakashi showed up after a week. He perched on the high walls of the Uchiha district, obvious in the sunlight but not yet imposing on the clan ground. It was surprisingly considerate, not trespassing until Sasuke glared at him pointedly.

“Maa, you look grumpy.” Kakashi smiled, looking much more rested than Sasuke felt. “New shirt?”

“Old.” Sasuke clipped out sourly. “Why are you here?”

“Can’t a teacher see his favourite student?”

“You don’t. Why are you here?”

“So mean,” Kakashi huffed dramatically. “I wanted to see how you’re doing. You were a bit upset last time I saw you.”

_ ‘Because apparently you knew about my brother being here.’  _ Sasuke wanted to say.  _ ‘Because you’ve been housing the only person I want to kill.’ _

Instead, Sasuke huffed. Kakashi laughed at him.

“Come on, I’m taking you out for lunch.” Kakashi said, one hand grabbing Sasuke’s shoulder to half drag him along the ground. Sasuke allowed the manhandling, because knowing Kakashi the man would drag him along against his will if he cared enough.

“You never take us out for lunch.”

“Maa, we’re going outside the walls. A nice little picnic with my nice little grumpy student.”

A picnic seemed nice, until Kakashi summoned all his dogs.

They were at a little lake, a small inland one that Sasuke recognized vaugelly. The water was clear and cold, a fact the summons all enjoyed as they leapt in and paddled around.

“It’s nice here.” Kakashi stretched against the base of a thick pine, “not many shinobi know about this little spot.”

Sasuke could read between the lines. It was a private location, hidden from sight. The dogs were there to prevent any threats, and to also operate as a scout. Kakashi was never relaxed enough to do something so careless.

Kakashi sprawled back, and closed his eyes. If Sasuke let him, the jonin could likely take a nap.

Sasuke felt his jaw click, his face twitch ever so slightly. Sakura was getting personalized training from the  _ hokage,  _ even Naruto was getting specialized training. A ‘pervy-sage’ who ended up being a  _ sannin.  _ What was Sasuke doing? Sitting next to a little lake with a sleeping jonin and a burning curse mark.

Sasuke couldn’t help it. He exhaled shortly through his nose, and stood up abruptly.

“Leaving so soon?” Kakashi asked, eyes still closed. He looked like the picture of peace and relaxation.

“I have training to do.” Sasuke growled out. “You know, since there's a  _ madman after me.” _

“Mm, I wouldn’t be too worried about him.” Kakashi finally opened one eye, looking calm about it all. “Orochimaru isn’t going to try anything.”

“How can you know that!” Sasuke shouted. His hands curled into gnarled fists. His sandals ground into the grass, breaking the strands roughly. “He came  _ after me!  _ He isn’t going to stop until-.”

“Sasuke,” Kakashi cut him off. “Orochimaru isn’t your problem now.”

“Oh, of  _ course  _ he isn’t. Because  _ now  _ I have to deal with  _ Itachi  _ running around and  _ none of you are taking me seriously!” _

Kakashi stared at him. The dogs in the background quieted down from their loud splashing and playing.

“Nobody is going to hurt you.” Kakashi started, voice low and careful. It reminded Sasuke of how one might approach an angry animal. Hands low, cautious and slow.

Sasuke’s teeth gnash, his jaw clicked painfully.

“None of you are telling me  _ anything.”  _ Sasuke hissed, “nobody! Even- even  _ dead-last  _ knows more than  _ me!  _ I’m the one who people keep attacking!  _ I’m the one and none of you are telling me anything!” _

Kakashi watched him. Hands loose in his lap, body relaxed against the tree.

“You know,” Kakashi said finally, voice somewhat nostalgic, “I was in ANBU with your brother.”

Sasuke stared, feeling some of the anger start to ebb away.

Kakashi looked away, watching his summons casually. It didn’t echo his words, or the tone in which he spoke. “Maa, I can’t say much. You know how paranoid ANBU is. Itachi was in my squad, we had a few missions together.”

Sasuke stared at his sensei and felt weak in his bones. “Like what?”

“Eh, usual. Enemy nin tried to bury explosive tags in the streets- your brother and three others in my team stopped that.”

Sasuke exhaled slowly, feeling the frustration and anger fade away second my second. He slowly sunk to the ground, legs folding as he leant against a tree. “What else?”

Kakashi peeked with one eye, trying not to smile. “Once Itachi and I went to the Land of Woods for a mission. You know, normal easy things.”

“So everything went wrong?” Sasuke asked dryly.

Kakashi shrugged, “Itachi was hit by a Water dragon jutsu- the one that I copied. He looked like an angry wet bird the entire trek home. Maa, he splashed so much mud I think he burned his clothing to get the stink out.”

Sasuke couldn’t help the unexpected blurt of laughter. The noise surprised him, low and impossible to stop. Itachi had...had always been a genus. A bright star example Sasuke always failed to live up to. Itachi was a prodigy, a hero, a traitor, a monster. Itachi was his brother; it had been a long time since anyone had humanized him.

“What was your team called?” Sasuke asked, feeling the curiosity bubbled under his skin.

“Mm, ANBU secrets.” Kakashi teased. “Team Ro. Well, in full we were ‘Hi ro han’.”

“Firewood?” Sasuke’s brows furrowed ever so slightly, “you were team fire?”

Kakashi nearly chuckled. “Your brother ah...the hokage thought it was funny how many buildings we kept burning down.”

Sasuke looked at his hands, curled around each other. He didn’t know how to think about that.

“A friend of your brothers called our team something else,” Kakashi mused absentmindedly, “Ro han, although that may have been because of my books…”

“Filthy?” Sasuke blurted, lip twitching slightly, “you were  _ Team Filthy?” _

Kakashi pouted as Sasuke laughed, then as he laughed harder. Kakashi pulled out his book pointedly, trying to ignore him. It only made Sasuke curl up wheezing as the porn novel laid truth to the title.

“You hurt me, my cute little genin has turned so cruel.” Kakashi pouted, “when did you turn so mean?”

Sasuke tried to compose himself, but the air felt much lighter after that.

* * *

The Uchiha district was separated and segregated from the rest of Konoha. With how many Uchiha had been involved with Shinobi or the Konoha police, the district had its own training field hidden away. It was smaller than the city training areas, where genin and chunin worked under surveillance. Instead, only Sasuke walked across the sand and scorched ground. There weren’t any nin to repair the broken ground, or to move away the rubble. Sasuke himself shifted the sandbags, hauling the broken dummies from the storage room out to the dumpster. He would cycle through them with a knife, gutting them for parts to build new practice tools. He wasn’t good at sewing, but he knew how to weave the fabric into targets.

The wooden pillars were so heavily gouged Sasuke could stick his hand in the lacerations. Other cracks were hairline thin, only his fingernail could slide inside. He had practiced on these targets when he was younger, before the weeds and vines started to intrude on the open air. The greenery became his new target, enough heat to boil the sap inside. Too hot and the ground would crack, exploding with sparks and rocks. Too cool, and the plants would regrow.

Sasuke wished he had activated his sharingan sooner. It was the custom for the new eyes to visit the training grounds, to watch with whirring focus as the elders shifted through their stances and their forms. The sturdy Ox form, the moving Snake form, the Eagle, the Monkey, the Boar. Sasuke sometimes daydreamed what it would have been like, to kneel by the repaired ground and watch his father and uncles and cousins practice over and over again. Itachi had always told him he’d show him how to throw kunai better, how to breathe fire better. 

Itachi hadn’t lied to him, but then he did and everyone died.

The crow on the target dummy, the one Sasuke had been practicing with, called out hoarsely. A low noise, a flap of its wings. The training grounds were small but Sasuke felt much smaller standing there alone.

“Shut up.” Sasuke snapped at the bird, regulating his breathing as he focused. A kunai between each finger. Four targets all around him. He had seen Itachi do this when he was younger, but his memory was fuzzy without the red tint that made everything vivid.

He threw the kunai, and he missed one spot. He threw again, and missed another.

He practiced, over and over and  _ over.  _ His fingers blistered, the overhead sunlight felt hot on his skin, on his hair. The collar of Shisui’s- of  _ his  _ shirt felt dusty and dry. He’d need to bathe extra carefully to get the grit out from his hair.

The bird was still sitting there, perched carefully. It had been there for hours, since Sasuke stumbled his way to the training grounds and began practicing that morning.

“Why are you here?” Sasuke snarled. His hands sweaty and tired. “Did he make you come to  _ spy  _ on me!”

The bird tilted its head slightly. Curiously, or perhaps answering his question without words.

Sasuke panted, his arms hurt. He’d have to pry his kunai out of the wooden planks. The bird watched him, clicking its beak quietly as each kunai clattered against one another. Sasuke created a small mound of them, dulled edges from being thrown over and over again. Dull weapons were a secret to training- they took more force to throw and lodge deep. Better strength, a guaranteed kill later on.

Sasuke stared at the bird. It had watched him for hours, barely moving. It's dark feathers were dusty. Sasuke’s skin was dusty. Shisui’s shirt smelled and felt dusty.

_ ‘Okay,’  _ Sasuke thought to himself. The crows were Itachi’s summons but they had been shared. They were Sasuke’s brother’s summons but they were Sasuke’s  _ brother’s  _ summons too.

“Okay.” Sasuke said, because he hated Itachi but he loved Shisui. He propped his arm, like how Itachi showed him as a child. When they sprinkled cornmeal on the ground and fed barley to the birds with open hands.

The crow opened its wings for the first time in hours, stretching and flapping before it coasted over the ground. It landed with its little clawed talons. Nails twisting in Shisui’s shirt, but not piercing Sasuke’s skin under. The weight was surprising, but not enough for Sasuke to falter. The bird kept its wings open- balancing carefully,  before they folded against its body and it settled.

Sasuke spotted their reflection in the well, shifting and rippling as he turned the crank and drug up the bucket. The crow was as dark as Sasuke’s hair, and they were both equally dirty.

“We’re disgusting.” Sasuke said, staring at the water before he pulled the ladle from the water. The Uchiha district had plumbing, but their clan had a sort of common thread woven from ancestry. Sasuke could go inside and take a shower, or he could pull the water from the well in the center of the training yard. He could draw a bath or he could use the small buckets his ancestors had used before him.

There was something nostalgic and reverent about sipping from the ladle, using it because it was tradition. It made his stomach warm and cooled the sweat on his skin. That, and Sasuke remembered Shisui dragging the large bucket to dump its entirety over Itachi after he had passed out from overworking himself.

_ “Shh, stay over there. The moment Itachi wakes up, we’re both going to run as fast as we can!” _

_ “Nii-san is going to be mad!” _

_ “Oh of course he will! That’s what makes it more fun!” _

* * *

Kakashi showed up again, this time with a man in horrible headgear that Sasuke recognized from Naruto’s descriptions.

“What do you want.” Sasuke snapped out, words not a question. A demand, a vicious insult.

Kakashi lifted his arms, already looking a bit exasperated and guilty with having intruded so far in the district as to knock on Sasuke’s door. His company, the sannin Sasuke had heard about, didn’t look so ashamed.

“So, Sasuke Uchiha.” the man frowned, tapping his chin slightly. “You do look as grumpy as Naruto says.”

Sasuke glared, eyes shifting and whirring as the world took on a red hue. The man lifted his hands, trying to placate Sasuke although his approach was rude and abrasive.

“Sorry, didn’t mean to bother you there.” He said, “my name is Jiraiya. We have some questions for you.”

Sasuke looked at Kakashi, who nearly sweatdropped at the bad approach.

“May we come in?” Jiraiya asked, although he already made movements to slip inside Sasuke’s family home.

Sasuke took one step forward, closing the door behind him. It clicked loudly, Jiraiya stilled as the three stood on Sasuke’s front porch.

“No.” Sasuke said icily. “You may not.”

“Ah.” Jiriyah blinked twice, “my apologies. There’s a lot of ghosts here, I meant no disrespect with my intrusion.”

Sasuke glared, and Kakashi slipped between them sharply. 

“Ah, none of that.” Kakashi tried to soothe, “my genin is a bit upset, it’s the moon you see, it’s nearly full and-.”

“Why are you here.” Sasuke clipped out sharply, “because I have the right to kick you from this district and ban you from ever returning.”

“Actually, only your brother has that right as clan heir.” Jiraiya said.

Sasuke’s sharingan spun violently, his hands curled into fists.

_ C-aww.  _ A crow said, drawing their attention.

“Oh.” Jiraiya said. 

“That’s a lot of crows.” Kakashi offered helpfully.

It was true. There were a lot of crows. Every power line, every sill, every string of abandoned lanterns sat a crow. They were feather to feather, hundreds of dark eyes watched the two adults. Hundreds of sharp beaks clicked ominously; hundreds of crooked sharp claws wrapped around alcoves to stare down at the display.

Sasuke normally would have felt sickened by the sight of so many birds, but with so many staring down at his defense he felt almost protected. A kinship of feathers and beaks and so many dark eyes glaring.

“I think that you should take the lead, Kakashi.” Jiraiya said, finally looking sheepish and uncomfortable. 

_ ‘Good’  _ Sasuke thought viciously. He wouldn’t mind a few of the birds attacking the man.

“Maa, this is a mess.” Kakashi pressed one hand against his temple, “Sasuke, do you remember the ANBU that found you?”

Sasuke stared, unblinking. He didn’t understand. “Found me…?”

“That night.” Kakashi said.

Oh. Yes, Sasuke remembered.

The birds shifted, an entity of undulating dark along all surfaces. Sasuke’s jaw shifted, his throat tightened. He didn’t avert eye contact with Jiraiya, who finally now looked ashamed with his approach. He looked guilty, sad with something. Sasuke didn’t want his pity.

“Do you remember the masks?” Kakashi asked casually. “It’s okay if you don’t.”

Sasuke very carefully didn’t twitch.

He did remember them, the people that hauled him away. That dragged him from the streets and-.

“Yes.” Sasuke clipped out, throat moving long after his words did. “A...woman. A cat, three stripes.”

He wouldn’t let himself get caught in the memories, he wouldn’t let them-

“Do you remember anyone else?” Jiraiya asked, not surprised with what Sasuke remembered. They knew the woman then or who she was.

“Another cat. Green and red stripes.” Sasuke forced out, breathing slowly through his nose. “A bear, black stripes. A...A moth I think.”

Kakashi stilled ever so slightly, staring at something behind Sasuke. “Anyone else?”

Sasuke swallowed twice. “No.”

“Thank you, Sasuke.” Jiraiya nodded, looking more sad with what Sasuke had said. “I know this is difficult for you, but you’ll learn soon enough-.”

“No. You tell me  _ now.”  _ Sasue said.

Kakashi looked at him, and tilted his head ever so slightly.

The birds all watched, quiet and silent and slowly, Kakashi nodded.

“Okay,” Kakashi said simply. “I know the ANBU members. Only one ANBU member was assigned to collect you. There should have been no additional members in the Uchiha district.”

The crows shifted, Sasuke twitched. “I don’t...what do you-.”

“We’re just looking for some information.” Jiraiya said very quietly. “We don’t mean to intrude. Thank you for your time.”

Sasuke watched as the two men walked off. The crows followed them all the way to the district walls.

* * *

“Thank you,” Sasuke said, hating how the words felt bitter and thick on his tongue. 

He held out his hand, the crushed corn dusty on his palms. The crows watched him, timidly approaching with large hops. The bag of corn near Sasuke’s side was as big as his waist, as heavy as a medium dog. It took some effort carrying it back; he refused the offer of a cart, it would feel wrong to use something instead of his arms.

One crow hopped closer, thick beak clicking. It eyed the corn in Sasuke’s palm, plucking it with gentle movements. 

* * *

Kakashi came twice more, lingering lazily across the district. Escorting Sasuke to the training grounds, throwing a critical eye at the targets and dull blades.

They hadn’t met up as Team 7 in a while, the investigation was drawing Kakashi away from his mentor duties. Even then, Sasuke doubted the others were being neglected as much.

“You’re trying a new technique.” Kakashi noted, pulling on one blade before letting go. It thrummed in the wood, vibrating like a plucked instrument.

Sasuke shrugged, ignoring the birds watching paranoid from the buildings.

Sasuke did tense when Kakashi shifted his headband, revealing a blood red eye which dilated and contracted sharply with the sudden exposure to sunlight. The tomoe didn’t spin, instead he looked at Sasuke critically. Memorizing him then and there.

“You look tired.” Kakashi said. Hands in his pockets, body slouched slightly.

Sasuke swallowed and let his eyes shift red. “You do too.”

The sharingan was the ultimate visual jutsu. Indescribable to anyone without, impossible to ever convey in words.

It managed to break barriers of the natural world- track movements, remember everything. It was passed along and coveted and worshiped by people who didn’t understand. The Uchiha clan was a clan- it survived on the subconscious devotion and referral of those superior and subordinate to one another. Visual jutsu to visual jutsu; sharingan to sharingan.

When hierarchy shifted their eyes knew it, because a sharingan could never be understood and who was Kakashi to assume a sharingan worked in the way it was supposed to?

Sasuke swallowed, eyes locking red to red and he tried not to vomit as his throat stung bitterly. Behind his eyes in the space between his ears, the blood pounding tick of  _ kin kin kin  _ pounded. Raw and vicious and confused.  _ Kin kin kin.  _ Kakashi was not kin, but he lived with the part of one.

Sasuke had never been the best at understanding genetics and relations- but he had known a bit. Itachi was the one to teach him, to pull out the scroll and spend hours working with Sasuke to link every single clan member to one another through blood and relation.

_ Madara Uchiha  _ and  _ Suzaku Uchiha  _ and  _ Akagi Uchiha  _ all the way down to names Sasuke knew from those walking in the market.  _ Mito, Kakuza, Gurren, Sorano. _

_ “See?”  _ Itachi had told him, tracing the long lines that were written above  _ Shisui, “this is how we’re related. We’re family.” _

They were family. Shisui was closer than distant cousin.

_ “You’ll understand it when you get your sharingan.”  _ Shisui assured him, squinting at the long complex family tree.  _ “We can tell at a glimpse. It’s a neat trick.” _

Sasuke hadn’t understood, but he remembered a few names. Long forgotten, marked on a tombstone or a memorial stone.

Kakashi stood lazily but everything in his sharingan twisted in Sasuke’s head  _ kin kin kin.  _

Sasuke wanted to take his nails and gouge out Kakashi’s eye, because he was  _ Kakashi Hatake  _ but he was  _ Sharingan no Kakashi,  _ but he was  _ kin kin- related. Uncle’s brother’s cousin’s cousin’s son-. _

“I knew him.” Sasuke said, feeling emboldened with the crows at his back. “Well, I didn’t. Itachi did. He helped Itachi practice his hand signs; Horse, Ox. Fireball jutsus.”

Kakashi stilled, staring at him with that blank face Sasuke hated.

Sasuke had gone back through the scrolls, trying to track what his sharingan told him as kin with the small handwriting Itachi had made lifetimes ago. “Oh?” Kakashi asked casually. “You don’t talk much about your brother.”

Follow the blood line. His Uncle’s brother’s cousin's cousin's son-

“You don’t talk much about cousin Obito.” Sasuke said.

Kakashi stilled. His hand slid his headband down to block his eye.

“Mm, I suppose I don’t.” Kakashi said.

* * *

Shisui’s things were in Sasuke’s room. After Shisui died, Itachi had gone to the will reading. The age of adulthood was older, but a shinobi automatically gained legal rights as an adult the moment they graduated the academy. A genin had the legal right to get a tattoo, a marriage, to drink if they really wanted. Bars wouldn’t normally sell to a child anyways.

Shisui was an adult in the legal eye of the world, so even though he was  _ so young  _ what he had written was authentic in every sense. He had left some things to his parents. To his mother, his father who couldn’t recognize him anymore; his brain disease too damaging in the end. He left some things to the main family, like antique swords and weaponry that Sasuke remembered his father cleaning in memory.

He left a lot of things to Itachi, and he left a lot of things to Sasuke.

_ “He said that we were family.”  _ Itachi told him, after the news broke of Shisui’s suicide. Drowned, his body bloated and rotten and the fish had long since eaten the soft flesh of his eyes.  _ “More than just clan. He wanted you to have anything you wanted.” _

It took Sasuke months before he could bring himself to look through Shisui’s few belongings. It took longer until Sasuke could do so without vomiting.

* * *

Sasuke liked tomatoes. His mother grew them outside in the garden, the tiny one built up of logs that Itachi and Shisui had brought from the forests. Nobody was taking care of it now, but the tomato plants would grow back every year. The birds didn’t eat the tomatoes, but they did snack on the sunflowers that the small squirrels seemed to bury across the complex. In the lawns and flowerbeds or where the compound touched the forest. The plants would grow tall- taller than Sasuke was, and the crows would pluck each of the sunflower seeds from the open face and crack the hard husk with their beaks. Sasuke didn’t mind sunflower seeds, but the crows brought him a small handful. They left it on the front porch in messy chaotic piles, little offerings to him as he offered corn to them.

Sakura and Naruto caught on- sometimes for lunch Sakura would show up with little cherry tomatoes packed in her bag. It wasn’t pity, it was out of kindness. 

Sakura and Naruto had never been inside the Uchiha district either, but there they were. Standing tall and strong, wilting quickly under the watchful birds at the main gates. The basket of little tomatoes on Sakura’s arm felt heavy.

“‘Are they going to let us in?” Sakura whispered. Feeling very exposed under the half dozen eyes peering at her from the gates.

“Eh?” Naruto squinted up at the birds with a pout. “Let us in you lazy birds! We have an errand to run and you can’t stop us!”

The crows glared, and Naruto grumbled low under his breath in annoyance at it.

“I mean…” Sakura bit her lip. “If we just start...walking, they can’t...stop us, right?”

“Ugh, all this work for that lame jerk!” Naruto groaned. “I could be practicing a new really cool jutsu right now!”

“Oh stop it Naruto! We’re worried! We haven’t seen Sasuke since…”

_ Since Itachi showed up to stop the hokage from stabbing their teammate. _

“Oh yeah.” Naruto wilted instantly, his feet dragging.

The birds watched them, silent and staring. They were on every corner, every building. A few per stall or fence but together their numbers were massive. Silent, cautious.

“This is really freaky.” Naruto shivered, trying to resist the urge to bolt. “They’re  _ everywhere.” _

One crow hopped a bit, landing in front of their path. They stopped instantly, staring at the bird.

It hopped again, fluttering its tail feathers a bit to maintain balance.

Naruto squinted and tried to focus. He gave a little growl, cocking his hands on his hips. “Hey! Mr. Crow! Are you the one that bit my stomach!”

The crow said  _ C-aww! _

“Why you little chicken headed blackbird!”

The crow, offended, said  _ C-aww! _

Naruto glared, the crow glared back. Sakura wilted and wondered why on earth the life of a Shinobi ended up like  _ this. _

“Well, caw yourself! You lousy bird brained-.”

“Naruto! They’re crows! Stop being so mean!”

The crow in question hopped again, shrieking something angrily. The birds on the rooftops around them, clicked their beaks together ominously.

The scene was dramatic, and right up Sasuke’s style if Naruto was being honest. In typical Uchiha fashion, the birds went dead silent as, in the distance, their teammate approached.

“Sasuke!” Sakura cheered, looking both relieved and timid in wake of so many birds. “We were looking for you!”

Sasuke looked a bit alarmed, and a bit upset that they had ventured so far in. Sasuke looked up, frowning at the crows on the rooftop. They clicked a few times, each adjusting where they were sitting. Sheepish or ashamed, Naruto didn’t care but it sure did feel nice to know they were being scolded.

“Sakura. Dead-last.” Sasuke greeted in a flat voice. “You shouldn’t be here.”

“We were looking for you!” Naruto argued angrily, pointing at the one crow standing on the ground between them, “this lousy chicken told us to stop!”

_ C-aww!  _ The crow said, indignant.

Sasuke didn’t say anything, but he did shift his left arm slightly. The bird on the ground took it as an instant cue- its wings flapping as it propelled itself up to land on Sasuke’s exposed upper arm. It overbalanced slightly- flaring its tail feathers to recover, before it hopped around to face forwards again. It was fascinating to watch- very parrot like in action with a level of intelligence beyond that of normal birds that kept stealing Naruto’s ramen.

“I don’t want you here.” Sasuke rephrased, finally sounding a small bit angry. “This is  _ my  _ clan’s land. You aren’t allowed to be here.”

Sakura clutched the basket a bit closer to her chest. Sasuke’s expression was stony and cold. The crow on his arm glanced back and forth, pausing a bit in contemplation on the basket in Sakura’s hand.

“Oh,” Sakura wilted, looking down at her basket. “I...we hadn’t seen you for a while and we wanted to make sure you were okay and-.”

“I’m fine. Now go.”

“Hey! Don’t be mean to her!” 

“Butt out of it, dead-last -.”

“Stop being such a jerk then, dobe-.”

_ C-aww,  _ the crow on Sasuke’s shoulder said. It shifted, then launched itself forward right at Sakura. 

Sakura screamed, both hands dropping her basket as she lifted her arms to protect her face. The crow dropped as well, attention on the basket that spilled out the small cherry tomatoes.

The crow tilted its head, scrutinizing the spilled collection. It snatched the nicest tomato- deep red and a bit more oval, and carefully held it in its beak. Hopping back, it looked up at Sasuke and around the tomato, made a guttural  _ Cr-arrwrr! _

Sasuke outstretched his arm, face blank. The crow hopped onto his outstretched arm and deposited the tomato, looking at Sasuke expectantly.

Sakura giggled realizing what the crow had done. “It thinks that the cherry tomato is fine! Go ahead!”

“What’s that lousy birds name anyways?” Naruto huffed, glaring at the bird.

“I don’t care.” Sasuke said, turning around to leave. “Go away.”

Sasuke walked off. Sakura and Naruto hadn’t the heart to follow them.

* * *

Sasuke looked outside a few hours later.

The entire basket of tomatoes had been piled loosely on his front porch. Every tomato, perfectly untouched. The basket abandoned.

* * *

They had gathered on Training Ground Three, sitting on top of the wooden pillars from such a long time ago. Sasuke remembered it, remembered having to awkwardly feed Naruto his own lunch from chopsticks.

“Ugh, why are we training in a group?” Naruto complained bitterly. “I’m learning this super cool new jitsu and I don’t need  _ him  _ here throwing me off!”

Sakura instantly leapt to Sasuke’s defense. Sasuke didn’t say anything.

Something about the morning felt off. It felt wrong in a way he couldn’t describe. There were less crows watching them, only a half dozen scattered around. A few were preening themselves, stretching out relaxing while others stood at attention. It was a strange relaxed tension between them all. Sasuke didn’t like it.

“Where  _ is  _ Kakashi sensei!” Naruto groaned, flopping onto the ground. “He’s  _ always  _ late!”

“Then you should stop complaining Naruto!”

“I can’t help it! Why are we here so early if we aren’t needed-”

Something was wrong, it felt so terribly wrong.

Kakashi arrived, sprouting some sort of excuse. It still felt wrong. The air was cold and sharp and there was an ominous vibe to the world.

“Stop ignoring us, dobe!” Naruto roared, a collection of sound. He had conjured Shadow clones at some point for amplified sound. Annoying, pesky-.

_ C-rawwk _

Sasuke stood sharply. “Something is wrong.”

Kakashi had stiffened at the exact same moment also. Glancing behind them back towards the village, his body tense slightly in contemplation.

“Sensei?” Naruto paused, seemingly recognizing how the two sharingan users had stilled so suddenly. “Is everything okay?”

A shift, the atmosphere felt colder and  _ wrong wrong wrong- _

“No.” Sasuke answered instead. “Something is wrong.”

Kakashi bolted, climbing a tree in two practiced strides. It was only the agonizing hours practicing climbing trees which allowed his three students to keep up.

“Wait!” Sakura shouted, unprepared for the sudden movement. “What’s wrong!”

Naruto shifted, his grin turning into a downwards snarl as he raced after. The crows were screaming around them, a black swarming mess of small bodies, each racing alongside and in the proper direction of the Hokage’s tower.

“Oh no.” Sakura whispered, trying her best to keep up.

The day seemed completely normal. A few birds flying around, the marketplace was loud and bustling. There was one cloud in the sky, but it was in the distance shadowing the arch of a mountain. It was a wonderful day, and something was truly wrong.

The first thing that revealed that something was truly not normal was the shift of guards. The standard Shinobi outside the tower were replaced, instead unnamed unrecognized guards stood strong. Sasuke didn’t recognize them at a glance, but Kakashi diverted his posture very quickly to avoid their detection. His three students followed suit.

For the first time, Sakura was mentally thanking her sensei’s rude habit of ignoring doorways for windows. She knew Lady Tsunade’s window by heart, she liked to take her breaks sitting on the rooftop looking down at the city. Naruto was equally skilled at climbing on roofs- normally escaping pursuers after a bad prank, but still it was a useful skill.

They didn’t pause, even as Kakashi nearly  _ barreled  _ through into the Hokage’s office.

Sasuke recognized the man standing at the door, waiting for them it seemed. Naruto made a noise of excitement, but Sasuke wasn’t paying attention for that.

“Where is she.” Kakashi demanded flatly, eyes flickering around once before resting on Jiraiya.

“Talking to the council of elders.” Jiriyah said flatly. Kakashi made a small noise that could have been a swear.

“Time to go, come on genin.” Kakashi muttered, racing off once again. This time, Jiriyah accompanied them in flock.

“What’s going on, pervy sage!” Naruto shouted, clenching his teeth anxiously.

“Trust me, you  _ don’t  _ want to know.” 

“Is Lady Tsunade okay?” Sakura asked, chewing her lip nervously. Kakashi didn’t answer.

The Council of Elders were an elite bunch, old and selected by the population. They worked with the Hokage to serve Konoha and her people’s best interests. Naruto had ever met them, but Kakashi apparently had.

The door wasn’t open, but Kakashi didn’t pause for a second before yanking it.

* * *

Lord Danzo was a very powerful man. Lady Tsunade had ignored the weasel of a man long enough, had willfully assumed the best for her people and turned a blind eye to him. It would not last, not with the amount of information slowly pulled up from archives. Things that were... _ lost  _ over time.

Documents, missions, reports that should have arrived that never did.

Things that should have been sent to her- as the  _ Hokage,  _ and yet they never entered her graces. There were many problems, but she had not been ready to face corruption.

“Lord Danzo,” Lady Tsunade said as politely as she could, “I am eradicating this Council of Elders and charging you with corruption, and conspiracy against Konoha and her people.”

The doors opened, she ignored them.

Lord Danzo did not look surprised, none of the elders did.

“That is a bold statement to make, Lady Tsunade.” Danzo said very calmly. “In fact, I believe you may be attempting to eradicate this council out of anger.”

Tsunade could hear the inhale of breath behind her, the sharp surprise at his words

“In fact,” Lord Danzo said, very slowly standing from where he had been seated at the table. “I believe the removal of your position may be within your best interests.”

Tsunade didn’t twitch. “The appointment of a hokage is agreed upon by the daimyo-.”

“The Daimyo is dead.” An elder said flatly from next to Danzo. “The appointment of the next hokage is our decision upon our death.”

Tsunade inhaled, and exhaled slowly. “It is unfortunate that I will not die here. Lord Danzo, you are to be arrested and stand trial for-.”

“I believe that I will not be arrested.”

Several things happened very quickly.

ROOT operatives- recognizable by the blank faces, came from the walls. Prepared, expectant. Her summons were an ambush, set for her assassination once she entered the room.

The elders alongside Danzo shifted, releasing the jutsu that disguised their features. They were all high ranking operatives, equally corrupt. Tsunade closed her eyes as she felt the kunai fly, accepting that  _ this is it then. _

Kakashi and Jiraiya- her summons had been heard then, leapt into action to deflect the knives thrown her way. She stood, unfaltering as the operatives stared at her.

“Lady Tsunade,” Danzo said calmly, “I have replaced your ANBU with my own operatives. Upon your death, I will shift the position of Hokage to myself, and fix the rot that has spread through this village. I will restore peace, and power to her people.”

“That’s crazy! You’re a crazy old man who sounds like he needs his butt kicked!”

Tsunade almost smiled.  _ Oh, Naruto. _

Chaos unfolded.

Knives flew, jitsu were unleashed. Insects spread from one operative Kakashi seemed particularly annoyed with. 

Sakura wasn’t the best with knives, but she had been training under Tsunade for a little while. Enough, that when one operative drew close she could spin and release a chakra laden punch to smash through a couple ribs pointedly. 

Naruto wasn’t accomplishing through skill, but it seemed he had been doing  _ something  _ with the sannin. His clones were everywhere, distracting and bouncing off the walls of the small confined room. They were taking up space, clogging the bugs as Sasuke very frantically threw knives at every opportunity he had.

Tsunade threw one punch, smashing the wall down to at least open the fighting  _ somehow.  _ The ROOT soldiers kept coming, appearing when they didn’t want to. Overwhelming them, swarming. Kakashi was relying on trust that his genin were accomplished enough to stay out of the way.

Danzo, infuriatingly, had not moved from where he stood.

“You fight admirably.” Danzo said calmly, hand shifting towards his right arm very casually, “It will be an honor to kill you.”

“Not today you rat!” Jiraiya shouted, the small room was not working in their favour.

Danzo unlatched his right arm, crows explode in the room, and Danzo pulled the bandages off from his head.

“What the-” Jiraiya swore, even Kakashi flinched away with a sound similar to retching.

Tsunade couldn’t help the disgusted sound- the  _ abomination  _ of-

Crows solidified, a sword flashed and suddenly five ROOT operatives were dead. 

“ _ You.”  _ Danzo said, eyes wide- his real one and the stolen the fake-

_ Brother brother brother- _

Shisui!” Sasuke  _ screamed,  _ hardly able to recognize his own voice. Itachi-  _ of course it was Itachi,  _ was there, lip curled into a slight sneer as his sword flashed and jutsu were held off.

“Shisui!” Sasuke screamed, frozen stiff and eyes locked with  _ that was Shisui that was Shisui- _

“Don’t look at his eye!” Kakashi shouted, forcing everyone back as fire bloomed and flew and-

Sasuke  _ screamed,  _ a horrible gut wrenching noise. Naruto had never heard something so horrible in his life.

“Get him  _ out  _ of here!” Itachi kicked, trying to shove Sasuke back-

Then Sasuke went limp, completely frozen blank face.

“Genjitsu!” Tsunade snarled, because of course it was and-

“Shisui was such a loyal child.” Danzo said, face shifted ever so slightly into a smile. A self assured expression, his face his eye-  _ Shisui Shisui Shisui-  _  “he screamed when I tore his eyes from his face.”

Kakashi had served ANBU with Itachi- he had seen the man as a boy and had seen him slaughter others. Itachi had always been relaxed, always calm under pressure.

There was a reason why the Uchiha were feared, not only for their sharingan, but also for the madness that ran in their blood. The insatiable bloodlust and urge for battle and death that was unparalleled by any except perhaps the Nine-Tails and-

“You  _ do not get to speak of Shisui!”  _ Itachi  _ snarled,  _ like some sort of feral animal. It was a blood chilling noise, “ _ release Sasuke-.” _

Perhaps there was no kindness left in the world, because Itachi could feel his heart twist and throb with the names and eyes along the monstrosity of Danzo’s arm.   _ Father. Grandfather. Uncle. Cousin. Cousin. Uncle-  _

_ Shisui, Shisui, Shisui- _

“He wanted to know of his clan’s legacy.” Danzo said, because the world was not kind. “So I have decided to show him his beloved-.”

“You’re  _ torturing  _ a  _ child!”  _ Jiraiya shouted in turn, over the loud wailing of Sakura and Naruto and  _ Sasuke snap out of it! Sasuke snap out-. _

Itachi could feel something in the air snap, or perhaps there was a sound only he could hear.

A fracture, a split of something violent. Danzo smiled, and Shisui’s eye spun and-

“No!” Sasuke  _ screamed,  _ a loud high pitched  _ wailing  _ and suddenly, the room was on fire.

Itachi spun. One arm twisted back to catch Sasuke around his middle to throw him to safety. It didn’t do much, because Sasuke’s eyes were wide and spinning blood red and there was blood drooling down his face from where it poured from his eye sockets.

“Get out!” Kakashi shouted, Jiraiya equally screaming. Tsunade hadn’t clued in, but Danzo’s sudden screams equated to it.

Itachi knew of the unspoken visual jutsu- the ones that left you blind and empty in a world. The ones that broke reality and time and life and death- but they required that of preparation to cast. They required time, knowledge in advance.

Who was Danzo, to predict that his death would be in fire from the eyes of a  _ child. _

“Shisui.” Sasuke mumbled, eyes bloody and  _ bleeding and spinning and-  _ “he-  _ Shisui.” _

“Get back,  _ get back,”  _ Kakashi cursed, trying to slam the door but the roaring black flames had no mercy. They chewed and gnawed hungry and vicious- already Danzo’s corpse was charred bone and melting further as they  _ ate and ate and _ -

“Sasuke,” Itachi dropped to his knees, hands gently on Sasuke’s shoulders. “Sasuke, I know. I  _ know.  _ It’s okay,  _ Sasuke.” _

“Shisui.” Sasuke repeated, mouth numbly moving. Blood was dripping over his lips, staining his teeth pink. At this rate, his chakra would burn out and they would be left with a never ending inferno in the heart of Konoha.

“Sasuke.” Itachi didn’t dare shake his younger brother. “Sasuke look at me,  _ look at me.” _

Sasuke didn’t look at him. 

“Sasuke.” Itachi repeated, then very carefully reached up and tapped his brother’s forehead.

Sasuke blinked, recoiled, and shook. Itachi didn’t budge and let Sasuke melt into him, wailing so loud it was more violent than a scream.

Jiraiya was working something, fumbling over scrolls and papers and desperately trying to seal. Kakashi was helping where he could- the fire was gnawing through everything but it took a moment longer to chew through solid rock. Tsunade couldn’t help, so she kept the others from drawing close.

“It’s okay, Sasuke.” Itachi murmured, eyes half lidded because they both knew he was saying lies. “I’m so sorry.”

“Shisui,” Sasuke babbled, trembling because it was  _ their brother,  _ Shisui was  _ their brother and Danzo had ripped his eye and murdered him and- _

“I know.” Itachi said quietly, “I miss him too.”

Sasuke  _ screamed. _

* * *

“It’s called the Mangekyo,” Kakashi said. Calm, flat and devoid of personality. It was sharp, but quiet in a way which seemed painful. “It’s the final stage of the Sharingan.”

Sasuke didn’t answer. He stared at the wall, his back to Kakashi. There were no crows in the room.

“It’s said to emerge after extreme grief.” Kakashi continued quietly. “After the death of someone you love.”

“It hurts.” Sasuke said. “It hurts everywhere.”

“I know.” Kakashi said. “It doesn’t go away.”

* * *

Itachi sat on the roof of the Hokage’s building, a borrowed cloak pulled high and hooded over his head.

“I think he used Shisui’s Mangekyou on him.” Kakashi said quietly. “I don’t remember all the details. Wasn’t his-.”

“It changes your reality.” Itachi said. “I’m sure that what Sasuke saw is worse than anything the world has to offer.”

* * *

Sasuke didn’t recover in the stages a wound learned to close.

The mind did not heal like that of the flesh. The mind of an Uchiha even worse so. The records were locked by blood- and even a renowned healer like Tsunade could not comprehend the extensive depth of a Uchiha chakra pathways through the brain.

“This is ridiculous,” Lady Tsunade muttered, scowling as she crossed her arms. Both sleeves were pushed up well past her elbows. “His chakra pathways make- they make little to no sense!”

Kakashi shrugged one shoulder, trying not to stare at the folders thrown on Tsunade’s desk. They were coded, but even then the subtle details and notes were obvious to follow. Sasuke had quite the extensive medical file, especially considering the curse mark. 

“Maa, that’s Uchiha for you.” Kakashi shrugged, “they don’t always make sense.”

* * *

There were ghosts in the halls of the Uchiha district. Painted with blood along the cobblestone, ground into the dirt itself.

Itachi had not been home in a long time. It felt tainted, wrong by the machinations of his own blade.

He loved his family. He loved his clan. He loved Konoha.

He did not regret it, but the knowledge that in a perfect world he would not have hurt his brother in such a way- it stung. ITachi had made many mistakes; he’d seen the haunted look in his eyes and the nightmares that would never fade.

He left his Sharingan on not for fighting, but so he would remember every stroke of a blade and every spray of blood even in his dreams. He wanted to remember it all- the legacy he left and took on his shoulders.

“It’s been a long time.” Itachi said, greeting the remnants of his family. There were no words said, just the old cracking stone and the overgrown flower beds. The chickens and Uchiha cats would long since be feral, running wild across the complex. The roof tiles would be leaking on a few houses. Itachi remembered hearing about how the tiles were wiggling long before he left.

Itachi walked, alone down the streets. He knew where Sasuke lived- their old home. The walls and windows that mother had liked, the decorative lavishes along the heir’s house. There was a spot along the fence that Itachi had pried the nails free. Enough wiggle room so Sasuke would not injure himself trying to jump the fence- instead he could slide through the slats and follow Itachi when he tried to tail him to the training grounds.

The crows on the rooftops watched him, silently taking in his path and the footsteps. They had been excellent eyes, making sure his brother had not endangered himself too horribly. They were patient, waiting for years for the one off chance Sasuke made a call, and requested help.

Itachi had ordered the birds to peck out the eyes of his clan, to tear the nerves apart and swallow the gooey insides. He hadn’t been thorough enough, and now Sasuke suffered for it in a hospital.

Itachi stepped inside family home, respectfully removing his sandals for the padded slippers hidden in the storage cupboard. They were the same ones he remembered father wearing. Sasuke hadn’t redecorated.

The floor in father’s office was stained. A dark brown splotch both shapeless and dirty. It stained deep into the floorboards, impossible to scrub or sand out. Itachi remembered standing across from the doorway, the sound of bodies falling.

He exhaled slowly, closing his eyes and gently folding his legs into a kneel. 

He’d wait in vigil until Sasuke returned home. He hadn't had an opportunity to ever pay his respects before- even if the dead would not like it.

* * *

 

Itachi wondered, if his brother would burn him alive.


End file.
